Long-awaited shooter and Xbox Game Pass title, Second Extinction, is being canceled and pulled off the shelves before development is finished. Systemic Reaction, the studio behind the game, cites technical and budgetary issues that have become too great for the indie team to overcome. Amid “unforeseen show-stopping issues” and climbing financial demands, developers have decided to halt all development on Second Extinction. The game has officially been delisted from Steam and Xbox, though anyone with a copy of the game can continue playing until servers are shut down sometime in 2024.
Developer Systemic Reaction writes a letter to the community after a year of radio silence to announce that Second Extinction is canceled. (Source: Systemic Reaction Announcement)
The news is a shock to the dedicated base of Second Extinction players who have enjoyed the Early Access iteration of the game since 2022. As one of the leading titles used to build hype around the recent release of the Xbox Series X|S, Second Extinction would have leveraged multiplayer and co-op experiences in a unique gaming environment.
Systemic Reaction states, “As you may recall, we initially planned to launch the 1.0 version late last year, but the discovery of a few critical issues forced us to pull back close to the release. Unfortunately, it became clear that our small team lacked the resources necessary to hit our quality targets…” The developers did their best to remain positive as comments and reviews from disappointed fans started to pour in. After a year without significant updates, and after the game’s official 1.0 patch was pushed back by more than 10 months after the release of the Xbox Series X|S, players had already started to give up on the ambitious title.
Players take to Steam to leave reviews about the company’s lack of communication and misuse of Early Access resources, warning others not to trust the developer. (Source: Steam)
In the face of backlash and disappointment, Systemic Reaction has chosen to maintain a positive attitude about the closure of the game, stating valuable lessons learned. The developers look to celebrate the overall success of Second Extinction, boasting that the team still managed to “turn an innovative concept into a fast-paced, fun experience that is amazing when shared with friends”. With a host of new experiences and tools, Systemic Reaction plans to produce more games in the future.
Despite the sudden cancelation of Second Extinction, Systemic Reaction did not have to lay off any employees. The decision to cancel the game came solely after hitting immovable roadblocks and financial struggles that the company could not overcome, but not at the expense of any personnel.
The game studio is putting the “passion, talent, and skill of the team who worked on Second Extinction” to “good use on other projects”. (Image source: Steam Store)
A final update to Second Extinction will arrive sometime in early 2024 with Systemic Reaction announcing the end of the online servers. After the servers are taken offline, players will no longer have access to Second Extinction.
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