It’s no secret that Crowfall didn’t exactly have the launch year that it wanted, with a subdued launch, subsequent layoffs, and low player counts (which the studio tried to hide) happening to this once-red-hot MMORPG project. We’ve been hoping that the PvP title would be able to find its footing and organically grow a playerbase over time with November’s freemium business model transition, but it may not get that breathing room to do more if the latest rumors are any measure.
According to KiraTV, who cites a “leaked investor report,” the MMO is on the ropes and could be shutting down in a couple of months. The report, allegedly sent out to players who had equity crowdfunding investor shares in the game, said that Crowfall has been performing “below expectations” has has an “inability to acquire customers at positive ROI.” As a result, and as we’ve already seen ourselves, ArtCraft has already reduced the team size, worked on revamping the game, and split Crowfall revenue between the MMO and its upcoming Project Atlas, which appears to be the name of the second game some of the team – including Todd Coleman – moved to once Crowfall was out.
The worrisome section of the supposed leak states the situation bleakly: “Given our cash situation and the prospects of raising more money to fund Crowfall, if we do not see a significant change in performance by the end of November, we will need to choose between continuing to invest in Crowfall features and content, reducing Crowfall investment but continuing to run it in a maintenance state, or shutting it down and prioritizing our second project (codename ‘Atlas’).”
So, is the leak even legitimate? ArtCraft obviously hasn’t publicly confirmed that it’s mulling over a sunset, but the game’s Reddit community is glum, finding the report unfortunately credible under the circumstances. But the game’s community manager dismissed the report on Friday, telling Discord participants that the document was “very sus” and recommending that people who downloaded it check their computers.
“If the game was going to shut down, we’d let you know,” Tiggs wrote, telling the chat to get back to Crowfall gameplay.
