Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem ends development, with multiplayer to shut down in September

(Image credit: Crytek)

Developers Wolcen Studio have announced that 2020 action RPG Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem will receive no further development or support, and that its multiplayer component will end later this year.

"It is with a heavy heart that we announce a significant change: Starting September 3, 2024, Wolcen will no longer support multiplayer functionality. Additionally, we will cease further development and support for the game," they said in a post to their website and to Steam.

Fans have probabaly seen this coming for some time now. Wolcen's last proper patch was July of last year, though it did get Steam Cloud support in November. That's not to say Wolcen is an incomplete game: A patch in May of 2023 added the final chapter of its story.

But the shutdown of a multiplayer game is always fraught. A number of negative reviews have popped up on Steam following the announcement, almost entirely citing the removal of a game component that people paid for access to.

"We want to assure you that Wolcen will still be available to play in single-player mode and to purchase at a new, permanently reduced price," said the announcement.

"This decision allows us to focus on new projects, carrying forward the lessons learned from Wolcen," said the developer in its "The Future of the game" post. "We are committed to excellence and driven to create new experiences and adventures that we hope you will be eager to join."

Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem got a 58% review from PC Gamer back when it released, with reviewer Fraser Brown calling it "as buggy as it is bloody."

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.