Afraid we have some bad news for the Second Extinction community as developer, Systemic Reaction has announced in a blog post it’s ending active development of Second Extinction and delisting the game from digital storefronts on Steam and Microsft platforms. The announcement comes three years after the game initially launched in early access.
The game’s servers aren’t going anywhere for now, so players who still own the game can still pick up and play with friends. That will change later down the line as the plan is to eventually take them down late next year, which will be communicated in advance.
Second Extinction never got the chance to be fully in the sun with all the bells and whistles as the game’s shutting down while still in early access/game preview. Systemic Reaction revealed the plan was to launch the 1.o version around this time last year, but a handful of the game’s critical issues led to pushing the release back to this year. Later on, the team realized it might not be possible to release Second Extinction fully.
“Unfortunately, it became clear that our small team lacked the resources necessary to hit our quality targets and exit Early Access and Game Preview, and the investment needed to do so was too large for us to bear. After evaluating our options and working during this year to find other potential solutions, this became the reality our team had to face,” Systemic Reaction said in a statement.
In reaction to all this, a small minority of gamers are review-bombing the game on Steam before it disappears quietly into the night, some requesting refunds and others accusing the developer of taking their money and running. Systemic Reaction takes the development of the early access title as a learning experience as it’s not always about celebrating the wins but the failures as well and what you take from it to apply to future development opportunities.
“Our small team turned an innovative concept into a fast-paced, fun experience that is amazing when shared with friends. And when it’s all said and done, our mission is to bring this kind of joy to players everywhere in creative, explosive ways,” Systemic Reaction adds.
We’ve come away with a list of things that worked incredibly well and things we know to avoid for future projects. One thing is for certain – while Second Extinction may be coming to a close, our commitment to crafting memorable moments that capture the magic of gaming will never fade.
The developer thankfully adds that there are no layoffs tied to the cancellation and reveals the “passion, talent, and skill ” of the Second Extinction developers are already being put to work elsewhere on other Avalanche Studios Group projects. Some of which could be playing a part in the recently announced studio expansion to Montréal.
Second Extinction first launched on PC via Steam Early Access on October 13th, 2020, and later on the PC Microsoft Store, Xbox One, and Xbox Series via Game Preview on April 28th, 2021. No time frame was given when the game would be delisted, so at least for now, you can pick up the game one last time before it goes away.
