Rumbleverse, the battle royale brawler, is shutting down

Rumbleverse, the battle royale brawler, is shutting down

Time Stamp: January 31, 2023 4:56 PM

Rumbleverse, the free-to-play, pro-wrestling-inspired battle royale brawler, is shutting down in February, Epic Games and developer Iron Galaxy Studios announced Tuesday. The game will go offline Feb. 28, about six months after the game officially launched.

“The remaining weeks will be a chance to celebrate the competitive spirit you’ve brought to this game,” Iron Galaxy said. “There will be more livestreams to play some games with the developers and let them pull the curtain back to share some behind-the-scenes moments from the creative process that built this city.”

But the reality is the whole thing closes down at the end of February. Any player who spent money on the game — including the purchase of a Battle Pass or the in-game currency, Brawlla Bills — is eligible for a refund, on any platform. “We will share a FAQ page with additional refund information soon,” Iron Galaxy said.

“It is our sincerest hope that this news does not mark the end of Rumbleverse,” Iron Galaxy added, in a more personal open letter directed at the game’s community of players. “You may not yet have seen the Rumble in its final form. If we can welcome people back onto the deck of the battle barge again, we hope you’ll be there, laced up and ready to take your rightful place in the cannon.”

Rumbleverse is a melee-based variant on the battle royale genre. Players launched into Grapital City, a large map with several points of interest, and stuffed their pockets with buffs, power-ups, and other items. Opponents were suplexed from the tops of skyscrapers and/or tossed in the water to be eliminated.

Although Rumbleverse was developed to be as watchable as it was playable, the game failed to gain much traction on Twitch, which may have sealed its fate — along with some other battle royale titles. Also on Tuesday, Electronic Arts announced it was shuttering Apex Legends Mobile, which launched in May 2022, and ending development on Battlefield Mobile, a project announced in April 2021.

Rumbleverse was first announced at The Game Awards 2021, though a proposed early access launch for January 2022 was postponed so Iron Galaxy could tighten and polish the game. It formally launched on Aug. 11 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

A Nintendo Switch version was rated (overseas) earlier this month, but that now seems unlikely to be released.

Iron Galaxy, founded in 2008, is best known for its games Divekick (2013) and Extinction (2018), and for its work on Killer Instinct’s second and third seasons for Xbox Game Studios.

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