Typically, when a live-service game is shut down by its publisher, the assumption is the game failed to perform in some way--usually financially--and that its underwhelming performance resulted in its discontinuation. Star Wars Hunters--Zynga's multiplayer shooter set in the Star Wars universe--is being shut down in October, but despite a lower-than-anticipated attach rate, Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau says it was "no failure" at all.
Speaking with The Game Business, Gibeau said that the team at Zynga built a "great tech base" and a "fun game" with Hunters, but the game did not emerge as a "viable business." Specifically, Gibeau cites a lack of "organic installs from the license" as a contributing factor in its imminent discontinuation.
Star Wars Hunters
"We had some issues with how we could explore the intellectual property--could you play Darth Vader or could you not? That sort of thing," Gibeau said. "We ended up with a cross-platform game on Switch and mobile that ran perfectly. It was fun. But it didn't engage over the long term. And it wasn't a viable business."
Gibeau also says that ending Hunters will result in another "shot on goal" with another IP, only now with the knowledge and technical base. "The action shooter category on mobile is very large and growing, and we'd like to be there," Gibeau said. "Now we have an Unreal tech base, with some great leads in terms of the engineering, developers and designers…. Now it's taking the learnings from Star Wars Hunters and applying it to another shot on goal with another intellectual property."
Zynga first announced Star Wars Hunters during a Nintendo Direct presentation in February 2021. It finally launched in June 2024, only for Zynga to announce that the game would cease operations on October 1, 2025--with one final update pushed to all users on April 15. A PC port of the game was also canceled.
Star Wars Hunters is still available now for mobile devices and Nintendo Switch.
Source
Speaking with The Game Business, Gibeau said that the team at Zynga built a "great tech base" and a "fun game" with Hunters, but the game did not emerge as a "viable business." Specifically, Gibeau cites a lack of "organic installs from the license" as a contributing factor in its imminent discontinuation.
Star Wars Hunters
"We had some issues with how we could explore the intellectual property--could you play Darth Vader or could you not? That sort of thing," Gibeau said. "We ended up with a cross-platform game on Switch and mobile that ran perfectly. It was fun. But it didn't engage over the long term. And it wasn't a viable business."
Gibeau also says that ending Hunters will result in another "shot on goal" with another IP, only now with the knowledge and technical base. "The action shooter category on mobile is very large and growing, and we'd like to be there," Gibeau said. "Now we have an Unreal tech base, with some great leads in terms of the engineering, developers and designers…. Now it's taking the learnings from Star Wars Hunters and applying it to another shot on goal with another intellectual property."
Zynga first announced Star Wars Hunters during a Nintendo Direct presentation in February 2021. It finally launched in June 2024, only for Zynga to announce that the game would cease operations on October 1, 2025--with one final update pushed to all users on April 15. A PC port of the game was also canceled.
Star Wars Hunters is still available now for mobile devices and Nintendo Switch.
Source