The FPS/RTS hybrid Disintegration did not knock our socks off when we previewed it in February, and it landed with a thud when it came out in June. Developer V1 Interactive tried to get the ball rolling with a free weekend—never a good sign for a game that's only a month old—but that failed to spark any lasting interest, and today V1 and publisher Private Division announced that they're pulling the plug on multiplayer support.
"We have made the difficult decision to remove Disintegration’s multiplayer modes from the game across all platforms. This will be done in phases over the coming months, starting today with the removal of the in-game store, and will conclude on November 17th with the full removal of multiplayer," they said in a combined statement at disintegrationgame.com. "The single player campaign will remain fully playable moving forward."
"From both the development team at V1 Interactive and publishing group at Private Division, we stand by the creative risks taken to launch such a unique, genre-bending game created by this small but talented and passionate team. While our player base showed interest in the single player campaign, the game unfortunately struggled to build a significant audience necessary for a compelling multiplayer experience."
It's an unfortunate end, and also a bit surprising given that Disintegration received considerable hype when it was announced as being headed by former Halo creative director Marcus Lehto and SOCOM director Mike Gutmann. But it never seemed able to distinguish itself to players. According to Steam Charts, Disintegration had a peak concurrent player count of just 120 when it launched in June; that bounced to 539 on the first day of the free weekend, but by the following Monday it was back down to low double-digits. Its peak concurrent player count over the past 30 days was just 27.
While the in-game store is gone, current Disintegration players will have until November 17 to redeem any credits they've earned or purchased in the game. After that, all multiplayer options, including crews and maps, will be removed. Details (although that's really about it) and a link to Private Division's customer support for any required further help are available in the "multiplayer sunsetting FAQ."
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