Major game enjoyed by 15 million players shutting down in DAYS as baffled fans told it ‘will no longer be available’
A GAME enjoyed by more than 15million people at its peak is preparing to bow out in just a couple of weeks.
Developers have warned players that the title "will no longer be available to play" on May 29, six years after its successful launch.
Dauntless burst onto the scene with largely positive reviews and quickly gained users.
The free-to-play action role-playing game was available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch and PC.
"Dauntless is shutting down on May 29, 2025," Phoenix Labs said.
"Dauntless will receive no additional content or updates.
Read more about game closures
"The game will no longer be available to play on May 29, 2025."
In a separate post on the game's website, the firm said: "We’ve made the difficult decision to shut down Dauntless due to the negative public reception of TK and subsequent decline of active players."
Despite starting off successfully, players say that changes in ownership of the company behind it "ruined the game".
"The game is nothing like I remember it when it first launched," one person wrote on Reddit.
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"They literally killed their own game," another commented.
"At this point I feel like it was on purpose."
A third raged: "I hate to see the game die, I loved it for years, but the company that bought the game forcefully turned it into a mtx hellscape and they deserve to have it crash and fail.
"I hope the excellent devs that did the work can find new work quickly."
More game closures coming up
Online games are routinely shut down as user numbers drop.
This is because it becomes no longer viable to run the servers that host the games.
Here's a list of major games due to shut down throughout 2025:
- MultiVersus - May 30
- xDefiant - June 3
- The First Descendant - June 19
- Black Desert - June 26
- Resident Evil ReVerse - June 29
- Madden NFL 21 - June 30
- Arizona Sunshine - July 1
- Skyworld - July 1
- Danmachi Battle Chronicle - September 29
- WWE 2K24 - September 30
- Madden NFL 22 - October 20
- PGA Tour 2K21 - October 30
- NBA 2K24 - December 31
WHY DO GAMES CLOSE?
By Jamie Harris, Assistant Technology and Science Editor at The Sun
With most games online these days, tech companies need to maintain quite hefty servers to manage everything.
It's no cheap business to operate with millions of gamers across the world.
Naturally, people move on, leaving older games behind in the process.
There comes a point where it's no longer viable to continue offering server access so studios shut them down.
For some games that are entirely online this can render it completely useless.
But others may have a way for you to continue playing solo still.
You should usually see a prominent notification in the game warning you with instructions on what to do - provided you're still playing the game of course.
Image credit: Getty