Remember Bandai Namco's free multiplayer shooter Gundam Evolution, which made its spectacular debut last September? Gundam Evolution will disappear forever on November 29, just one year after its release, as it can no longer "provide services that satisfy its players". Another casualty would be added to the list. [Executive producer Kazuya Maruyama said in a news update on Steam, "We want to thank everyone who has played and supported the game so far." He said, "At the same time, I would like to sincerely apologize to our fans and players." He stated. Maruyama did not mention why Gundam Evolution is being suspended, but a quick look at the SteamDB page shows that the game is struggling to maintain player numbers from its heyday at launch: this month, the number of concurrent players peaked at around 700.

On the bright side. Murayama writes that "Gundam Evolution is coming to an end, but updates will continue to roll out with Season 6 (adding new units and two maps) on August 23 (PDT) and the final season (adding new units and maps) on October 25 (PDT)," and that developers We will do our best to ensure that players enjoy Gundam Evolution to the fullest until the end," he added.

The full end-of-game roadmap will be revealed during the "Mission Briefing Final" stream, which will air tomorrow at 6pm PDT/9pm ET/2am BST, but the developers have already provided an overview of what to expect. Sales of Evo coins, the in-game currency, will end on July 26, and coins purchased prior to that date will not be refunded. Coins purchased prior to that date will not be refunded, but players will be able to use any coins they have until the game ends.

Aside from that, Gundam Evolution will be getting updates for Season 6 and Season 7 on August 23 and October 25, respectively; the second update is 36 days before the game's end date, so those who want to see the new units and maps that will be added should hurry up and get involved.

It's a shame that Gundam Evolution has to end this way. It may not have set the world on fire, but it is a surprisingly solid shooter, and once upon a time Noah Smith said it had the right fundamentals to "prove to be a sustained needle in the side of 'Overwatch 2'". But perhaps those fundamentals weren't executed well enough.