Rocket Arena sputters out, not with a bang but a whimper

Rocket arena character looks at a gate.
(Image credit: EA)

Developed by Final Strike Games and published by EA, Rocket Arena was a 3vs3 arena shooter launched in 2020 and was really rather good. While the name had gamers of a certain age wistfully thinking of Quake fragfests, the experience was more mellow and akin to something like Super Smash Bros., all about controlling space and forcing your opponent out of bounds rather than just endless gibbing.

Rocket Arena had considerable post-launch support for a year after launch, and clearly had some live service hopes and dreams, but it never attracted enough of an audience to justify continuing with that business model. It hasn't been updated since 2021 and now EA has, without any kind of announcement or fanfare, de-listed the game from both Steam and the EA store (thanks, RPS).

Both store pages remain active, with Steam saying "Notice: Rocket Arena is no longer available on the Steam store" while the EA store goes all poetic and claims "We realize the disappointment of this moment". EA had given some notice of the game's removal from its own Play Store on November 14, but there's been no other word from either it or Final Strike Games.

The development studio's site says it's working on an "unannounced new IP", and has also been working on Fortnite, most recently on the relaunch of that game's original map. However things may not be that rosy: several staff members posted on social media about being laid-off in May this year, and there are unverified rumours that Sony pulled the plug on the unannounced project, resulting in the studio losing 40% of its staff

Rocket Arena was a fun game but, as with many similar titles, unfortunately that's often not enough in the contemporary industry. It may seem callous of EA to simply de-list the game without any official word (I have asked for comment) but the publisher may simply have thought that no-one would especially care: at the time of writing, this multiplayer game has a single player on Steam.

Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."

Read more
spectre divide
Spectre Divide and its studio are shutting down after just six months: 'The industry is in a tough spot right now'
Storm trooper hero
Another live service shooter is getting shut down, this time before it even launched on Steam
Level Zero: Extraction image - woman in an HEV suit looking at a holographic image being projected by her presumably very expensive wristwatch
Just two weeks after launch, 'extraction survival horror' game Level Zero: Extraction ends development: 'It's no longer feasible for our relatively small teams to sustain the game'
Dauntless, the monster hunting game we had before Monster Hunter came to PC, will shut down in May
A spaceship jets away from the camera, into an asteroid field illuminated by a distant blue sun.
Vanished for a year, early access dev returns to announce a crisis taught them 'videogames ain't it' and end development on 'singleplayer EVE' they've been making since 2017
Resident Evil Re:Verse
Resident Evil Re:Verse is reversing right off Steam, as Capcom claims it has served its 'original, celebratory purpose' despite mostly negative reviews
Latest in Third Person Shooter
Storm trooper hero
Another live service shooter is getting shut down, this time before it even launched on Steam
Marvel Rivals characters - Hulk with his hands out as if he's grabbing the camera.
Marvel Rivals' growing roster of heroes scares me, but the game's director seems sure that all is under control: 'Everything is progressing smoothly'
Titus in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3 reveal promo image
Praise be to the Omnissiah! Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3 is officially in development
Marvel Rivals characters - Captain America running towards the camera.
All Marvel Rivals characters - current and upcoming heroes
Marvel Rivals Human Torch
Marvel Rivals is carrying on the tradition of chaotic patches after buffing two of the most annoying heroes, but I main one of them, so I'm not complaining
Mech in dry dock with person standing on catwalk underneath
How long can a live service game last? Theoretically, 'forever,' says Mecha Break developer: 'The last game I was in charge of has been alive and well for 16 years'
Latest in News
Man facing camera
The Day Before studio reportedly sues Russian website for calling infamous disaster-game a 'scam'
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch
Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers
Sony, which is making a Helldivers 2 movie, is also making a new Starship Troopers movie, but it's not based on the Starship Troopers movie we already have
Assassin's Creed meets PUBG
Ubisoft is reportedly talking to Tencent about creating a new business entity to manage Assassin's Creed and other big games
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
'It really truly changed my life in every possible way': Lady Dimitrescu actor says her Resident Evil Village role was just as transformative for her as it was for roughly half the internet in 2021
Storm trooper hero
Another live service shooter is getting shut down, this time before it even launched on Steam