Yager just can’t catch a break – The Cycle: Frontier to shut down in September

Yager, the developer behind Spec Ops: The Line, as well as several free online games, is wrapping up his latest project: The Cycle: Frontier. Frontier was a spin-off of The Cycle, a beloved game with a modest fanbase that was ultimately not financially viable.

The original game was a cooperative PvE shooter, but Frontier was one of the first to adapt the extraction shooter genre into a sci-fi setting. The PvEvP Frontier had a decent active audience when it launched in June of last year, but the enthusiasm has died down since then. Unfortunately, Frontier will also suffer the same fate as its predecessor, and also because it simply doesn’t make enough money to be sustainable.

Yager broke the news in a steam postconfirming that September 27, 2023 will be the last day the servers will be online, just over a year after launch.

“Despite our best efforts and significant improvements made to the game from launch and up to the launch of Season 3, the reality is that The Cycle: Frontier is sadly not financially viable,” the developer wrote.

“This is a very difficult decision for us, but after debating it for a long time, we had to accept that this is the best course of action for Yager.”

In the blog post, the developer outlined the game’s journey, from pre-launch testing to early release, which exceeded the studio’s expectations and forced it to update its backend to support the influx of new players.

Unfortunately, that success also attracted a lot of cheaters, which turned out to be a big problem for the developer and players. Despite working as quickly as possible to improve Frontier’s anti-cheat technology, including adding additional partners, it was simply too late.

All that time invested took away the development of improvements and new content, which did not help to retain players. Following the release of Season 2, the developer stepped back to reassess the current state of the game against the original vision, and made some crucial changes that seemed to appeal to players new and old, but that wasn’t enough either.

Yager is suspending real money purchases and removing currency packs from the store. Rotating in-game items will be available at over 95% off, and the premium version of the Season 3 Battle Pass will be delivered to all players who log in for free. Anyone who made real money purchases after June 14 will receive a full refund.

The Cycle: Frontier is just the latest in a long line of online/live service games that have recently shut down. Babylon’s Fall, CrossfireX, Knockout City, Deathverse: Let It Die, Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier, Rumbleverse, Apex Legends Mobile, Super People 2 are already offline or will be offline before the end of 2023