Evolve, the asymmetrical monster-killing multiplayer game that debuted in 2015 to much fanfare, has been running on life support since Turtle Rock announced it was ending support for the game back in 2016. Now 2K Games is finally putting it out of its misery, announcing in a blog post that it will shutter its dedicated game servers on September 3, 2018.
This means that Stage 2, the free-to-play version of the game for PC, will no longer be available to play or download, and all of the core game features such as ranked games, leaderboards, player profiles, badges, and the in-game store will disappear.
On July 2, virtual currency for in-game items will no longer be available to purchase either. Players are advised to spend their in-game cash before it expires at the September deadline.
The retail version of the game, Legacy Evolve, will continue to live on through peer-to-peer multiplayer on PC and consoles, and any hunters, monsters, or skins you’ve purchased will still be available to use.
Evolve was an ambitious and innovative game that generated a ton of buzz ahead of its February 2015 release. Although there was a single-player component, it was essentially a multiplayer affair, with four space marines ganging up against a huge rampaging monster that evolved as it consumed other creatures.
The potential for a massive hit seemed to be there, but the game didn’t ever seem to break through. Although the reviews were generally positive — we especially liked the “pure, adrenal chaos” of the firefights — the game never really became the phenomenon that many expected.
The early introduction of microtransactions were another big factor. Virtual store shelves filled with pricey add-ons available on launch day soured a lot of people on the game. As the Turtle Rock co-founders put it in a game update announcement, “The DLC shitstorm hit full force and washed away people’s enthusiasm.”
In July 2016, the company tried to reanimate the franchise with Stage 2, a free-to-play model on PC. That didn’t work, and in October of that year the company announced that it was ceasing support for the game, saying that it was “not meant to be.”
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