Hi-Rez Studios has announced that Realm Royale Reforged, the studio's battle royale game, will be shutting down on February 17, 2025. The announcement of Realm Royale Reforged's shutdown comes less than three weeks after Hi-Rez CEO Stewart Chisam revealed that the studio would be laying off team members as part of an internal reorganization.
As per an X post from Chisam, the layoffs at Hi-Rez were a product of a "comprehensive review" of the studio's "strategy and operations." This review informed Hi-Rez's decision to focus its efforts almost-entirely on Smite 2, the studio's newest third-person MOBA, and Chisam's post indicated that Smite 1 and Paladins would be the only other titles to receive ongoing support.
Don't Nod, the French developer known for creating the Life is Strange series, suffers unfortunate job cuts as recent releases struggle.
It is thus not particularly surprising to see support for Hi-Rez's other live-service games come to an end, and Realm Royale Reforged will be among the first taken offline. This is set to occur on February 17, 2025 at 12pm EDT, and the game will be removed from digital storefronts at that time.
Realm Royale...