The Cycle: Frontier developer Yager has announced that it's shutting down the multiplayer shooter later this year. Servers will close in September, and real-money purchases within the game have been shut down, heralding the beginning of the end for the ill-fated PvPvE project.
In a Steam announcement, Yager says the decision to shut down The Cycle: Frontier is a "heartbreaking" one, but that the game is "unfortunately not financially viable". Rather candidly, Yager admits that early on in The Cycle: Frontier's release cycle, problems with cheaters led to many players deserting the game, and the studio says that this "crucial" problem was part of what killed its game.
The release of Season 2 in September "didn't generate enough attention" to jolt the game back to life, according to Yager. Season 3 subsequently arrived in March, complete with a course correction in the form of the end of global mandatory wipes and reworks to the equipment system. This, the developer says, "seemed to convince many players", and The Cycle: Frontier's player base was boosted, but even this boost was "still not enough".
So, what's next for The Cycle: Frontier? Well, as of today, all real-money purchases have been disabled, and if you've made any real-money purchases after June 14th, they'll be refunded. Daily and weekly in-game offers will be discounted by at least 95%, and the game's premium Fortuna Pass will be free for all players. Following this, the servers will be completely shut down on September 27th at 3am Eastern.
It doesn't look like private The Cycle: Frontier servers will be an option, either. Yager says this is because the game has a "dedicated backend system" which means keeping the game available after shutdown won't be feasible. It's a shame, but this really does look like the end for Yager's game.
For more information on The Cycle: Frontier's impending shutdown, be sure to check out the official FAQ. Before the game shuts down, you can still play it for free on PC via Steam.
