Developers and publishers of co-op asymmetrical survival game Deathgarden: BLOODHARVEST announced last Friday the decision to end development. Released in August 2018, players took the role of Scavengers searching for supplies, or Hunters tracking and killing Scavengers. Created by the same studio to produce Dead by Daylight, Deathgarden: BLOODHARVEST featured a gloomy, oppressive atmosphere and procedurally-generated maps.
In a Steam announcement post dated November 22, Behaviour Digital pledged to keep the servers online through the rest of the year, as well as make the game free-to-play. Players can still play the game as long as the matchmaking remains "viable." As the game uses servers rather than P2P networking, its future after the new year remains uncertain. The developers promised to give the game a "meaningful last breath by finalizing every feature we've been working on." Behaviour Digital did not specify the features in question in their post.
Rather than quietly sunset the game, however, Behaviour Digital has planned a developer sunset stream before the holidays. On December 12, at 3 pm EST, they will broadcast games from their Twitch channel and play with community members.
The announcement created a small spike in reviews, though most came from around June, 2019. Recent reviews and community responses are mixed, expressing disappointment in Behaviour Digital's decision to sunset the game. Many comments expressed questions of refunds. According to Steam Charts, Deathgarden: BLOODHARVEST averaged 53.1 people over the last 30 days at time of writing. By the same website, the playerbase peaked in June 2019, averaging 1310.5 players per day.
Quick Take
By their very nature, lots of these games get an explosive playerbase that quickly dwindles when the next comes along. These games are very streamable without a significant time investment, so people have little incentive to stay after the initial boom. The Culling had its own drama regarding the sequel, and the playerbase evaporated shortly after. Dead by Daylight appears to still be doing well, though. Give Deathgarden a try if you're curious. If you like it, consider moving over to Dead by Daylight for a similar experience.
What do you think about Deathgarden: Bloodharvest ending development? Have you played the game? Are you going to give it a try with it being free? Let us know in the comments below
