Survival shooter Scavengers to shut down without even leaving Early Access

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"It became clear that it was unsustainable to continue development"

Scavengers
(Image credit: Midwinter Entertainment)

Survival shooter Scavengers will close its servers next month.

Crafted by former Halo and Battlefield developers, Scavengers sees you battle other players and mutated wildlife in a mix of PvP and PvE action. The game entered Early Access on April 28, 2021, but its days are now numbered as publisher Improbable has announced it won't be leaving the pre-launch phase and will instead have its servers shut down entirely on December 16.

In a post on the Scavengers website, Improbable explains the reason for the move. "The last few months have seen a decline in the playerbase, and whilst we explored many options to reinvigorate server population while the game is in early access, it became clear that it was unsustainable to continue development and live service. "

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The publisher also thanks all those who tried the game during its time in Early Access, saying, "we're all proud of what we accomplished and are grateful to every player who took the time to play, even if it was just for a short while."

The game was originally developed by Midwinter Entertainment which was bought by Improbable in September 2019. As Eurogamer revealed in May, the Scavengers studio was sold to Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive earlier this year due to Improbable's decision to focus on the Metaverse. As a result, console versions of Scavengers were cancelled, and a small internal team at Improbable oversaw the PC version.

In our Scavengers hands-on, we said: "The game's future is looking much brighter than the one it depicts for humanity," which, sadly, turned out not to be the case.

Anne-Marie Ostler
Anne-Marie Ostler
Freelance Writer

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.