Rumbleverse shuts down six months after launch

The battle royale game from Iron Galaxy and Epic Games was released in August last year, but failed to gain much traction among players.

Epic Games and Iron Galaxy have announced that their free-to-play battle royale game Rumbleverse will be shutting down at the end of the month, just six months after the game launched.

Rumbleverse is a free-to-play battle royale game that departed from other games in the genre by opting not to include guns or any kind of long-range combat. Instead, all combat in the game is close quarters melee combat, with players able to kick, punch, and push other players to reduce their health.

The game had 40 players dropped into a city map at a time, each fighting it out with the goal of being the last player standing. It also featured a parkour system that allowed players to climb up buildings, leap long distances, and quickly navigate through the game’s cities.

Rumbleverse was primarily focused on melee combat, with players able to punch, kick, and block. Picture: Epic Games

Developer Iron Galaxy shared a post on its website announcing the closure, and thanking fans for partaking in the game. It also said that it hopes that Rumbleverse may return some way, hinting that the shutdown may have been brought about by publisher Epic Games.

“The people who gave Rumbleverse a chance and took it on as a new hobby have validated every day that we put into bringing our ideas to life,” the post says, “We have loved watching you play. We have learned from your stories and your insights. We even passed around the art you’ve created to immortalize your best moments in the streets.”

Iron Galaxy continued: “It is our sincerest hope that this news does not mark the end of Rumbleverse. You may not have seen the Rumble in its final form. If we can welcome people back onto the deck of the battle barge again, we hope you’ll be there, laced up and ready to take your rightful place in the cannon”.

Rumbleverse was a unique game in the battle royale genre as it didn’t feature guns. Picture: Epic Games

EA also announced the cancellation of two mobile games, with Apex Legends Mobile shutting down and an upcoming Battlefield mobile game getting cancelled before it was released. The company said that dropping quality in updates for Apex Legends Mobile was the reason for the shutdown.

Fan-developed games aren’t faring much better, after a Resident Evil fan remake was reportedly shut down by Capcom. The team behind the remake had intended to create a modern version of the cult classic Resident Evil: Code Veronica, but had to cancel the project after being contacted by Capcom.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.