"Spectre Divide: Free Shooter Closes Weeks Post-Console Launch"

The free-to-play 3v3 shooter, Spectre Divide, is set to be discontinued just six months after its debut in September 2024, and mere weeks following its launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Alongside this, Mountaintop Studios, the developer behind the game, will also be closing its doors. This news was officially confirmed by Mountaintop CEO Nate Mitchell in a statement shared across social media platforms today.

"Unfortunately, the Season 1 launch hasn’t achieved the level of success we needed to sustain the game and keep Mountaintop afloat," Mitchell's post stated, highlighting the financial struggles that led to this decision.

Spectre Divide Combat

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Despite an optimistic start with around 400,000 players attracted in the first week and a peak concurrent count of about 10,000 across all platforms, the game's player base and revenue dwindled over time. "But as time has gone on, we haven’t seen enough active players and incoming revenue to cover the day-to-day costs of Spectre and the studio," the post lamented. The studio had exhausted its remaining capital since the PC launch, leaving no financial support to continue operations.

Mountaintop Studios explored various options to sustain the game, including seeking a publisher, additional investment, and potential acquisition. However, CEO Nate Mitchell admitted, "In the end, we weren’t able to make it work. The industry is in a tough spot right now."

Spectre Divide is scheduled to be taken offline within the next 30 days, and Mountaintop Studios has committed to refunding any money spent by players since the Season 1 launch.

This announcement contradicts earlier statements from October 2024, where Mitchell assured that "the servers aren’t shutting down, and the updates aren’t going to stop," claiming Mountaintop had "the funds to support Spectre for a long time."

IGN’s August 2024 preview of Spectre Divide praised the game's tactical 3v3 gameplay, particularly its unique Duality system, which allowed players to control two characters during matches. However, the swift shutdown of Spectre Divide adds to a series of recent live-service game failures, including Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Sony’s Concord.