Every modern gamer probably realizes that games with cool gameplay and beautiful graphics no longer work. The online gaming industry operates by strict rules, and much is tied to business models that take years to develop. Companies are constantly competing for the attention of real people, and the rule applies: the fewer players, the longer it takes to find a match, the worse the balance, and therefore even more people leave.

I’ve seen plenty of online games that are now closed or frozen. And even top-notch mechanics, beautiful visuals, and fans who swear by your project can’t save you if a financial error slips through.

Poor monetization, entering an oversaturated genre where everyone’s tired of the same old new releases, a fragmented development team that can’t focus on what matters, or simply prohibitive server and advertising costs. Today, I’ve dug up ten multiplayer games that had a real chance to take off, but something went wrong.

Legends of Runeterra (2020-2024)

Legends of Runeterra was released in April 2020, coming to PC and mobile after a successful beta. Riot was taking aim at Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering Arena , emphasizing a turn-based system with constant exchanges of actions within a single turn. Spells of varying speeds—burst, fast, slow—added tactical depth, allowing you to respond to your opponent’s combos in the moment, building counterplay chains. It was a blast. And, of course, the League of Legends setting with stunning art and animations. It seemed like we were in for another big hit from Riot.

But what really set Runeterra apart was its monetization. It’s hard to believe, given the studio’s current behavior, but they simply abolished randomized booster packs. Any card could be purchased directly with in-game currency or real money at a fixed price, plus the vault would replenish its collection every week, even if you rarely played.

The peak years were 2020–2022. Add-ons, the official World Championship, the hype around Arcane: the game was a hit, critics praised its balance and accessibility. Players were thrilled.

And here’s where the saddest part begins. The honest monetization that everyone was so excited about ultimately killed the project. People quickly farmed full collections without investing a penny, and sales of fields, emotes, and champion skins didn’t cover the costs of development, balance, and esports. And Riot’s legendary “we know what the community wants best” approach scared off some players.

In early 2024, Riot issued a statement claiming the game had never been profitable and was operating at a loss. The result: the team was cut, PvP competitions were frozen, and tournaments were canceled. A handful of developers remained, now working exclusively on the single-player PvE mode, Path of Champions. Of course, you can play it now—on both PC and mobile. But PvP is essentially dead, and new maps are released only for single-player.

Heroes of the Storm (2015-2022)

Heroes of the Storm launched on June 2, 2015. Blizzard positioned it not as another MOBA, but as a “Hero Brawler”: a carnival featuring characters from Warcraft , StarCraft, Diablo, and even Overwatch. Its mechanics were radically different from its genre peers. There was no individual gold farming or item shop—all team experience went toward a shared pool, and matches revolved around dynamic objectives on unique maps: summoning bosses, holding points, breaching fortifications. And it worked.

The game was memorable for its speed: 15-20 minute matches, a complete focus on teamplay, and wild experiments with hero design. Where else can you see Abathur sitting in the back, controlling the fight through mental entities, or Cho’gall being controlled by two players simultaneously? And Murky with his instant respawn? It was refreshing, even compared to Dota 2 and League of Legends .

The heyday of the game came in 2016–2018. Constant patches, new heroes, and, most importantly, the HGC esports league, which Blizzard itself financed. The professional scene was growing, the game was being streamed, and everything seemed to be going according to plan.

But problems were building up unnoticed. Naturally, the delayed market entry played a role. By 2015, the majority of players had already settled on the aforementioned League of Legends and Dota 2, and luring them away proved nearly impossible. Meanwhile, maintaining the infrastructure and the HGC was incredibly expensive, and the monetization they had developed didn’t justify it. So, in December 2018, Blizzard simply announced the closure of the HGC, transferring part of the team to other projects. The professional scene collapsed overnight, and the trust of ordinary players followed suit.

In July 2022, the studio put HotS into maintenance. There will be no new heroes, no maps, no events. You can still play through Battle.net , the servers are up and running, the seasonal rotation and basic balance are still intact, and matches in popular modes can be found in a couple of minutes. But it’s no longer a living project, more like a monument to itself.

There’s also a fan project called “Resurrection of the Storm,” recreated within Starcraft 2. But its state can be described as “more dead than alive.” Not all the heroes have been ported over, nor have the maps, and even a couple of unique characters don’t make the game any more appealing than the original.

Battle (2012-2016)

Now we have a completely unexpected guest in this collection. This session-based browser-based 3D first-person shooter launched in 2012. Initially, it lived as an app on VKontakte, then made its way to Mail.ru and even made its way to Steam.

The game revolved around team-based shootouts between toy robots set in everyday settings: children’s rooms, kitchens, garages, and offices. The arsenal was appropriate: lasers, rocket launchers, pulse cannons, and heavy machine guns. Several game classes, mines, and a variety of game modes—there was plenty of content.

What was so appealing? The microcosm setting. A juice box becomes a reliable shelter, a kitchen table transforms into a multi-tiered arena for sniper duels. The entry threshold was also ridiculous: no download required, just launch it in a window and go. For a Russian-language social network in the early 2010s, it was essentially the first high-quality 3D shooter right in the browser.

The heyday of the game was between 2012 and 2015. The daily audience numbered hundreds of thousands, and the servers were steaming under the load. Clans and tournaments emerged. Amateur, but regular.

And in 2016, it all started. Browser games were becoming a thing of the past, and Flash and Unity Web Player even more so. Browsers stopped supporting them one after another, and there was nothing that could be done. This technical impasse was compounded by internal discord within the team: a conflict of rights between the developers and publishers. There was also no money to port Battle Royale to a modern engine.

Ultimately, the official servers on both social media and Steam were shut down. The original version is currently unplayable. The community isn’t dead, though: enthusiasts and even some former developers are trying to rebuild the game in Unity. Unfortunately, so far, they’ve been unsuccessful. But, as they say, I’m there in my head right now, digging into the box on the “City on a Table” map.

Magicka: Wizard Wars (2014-2016)

If you think a four- to five-year lifespan is short for a game, what about Magicka, which had a significantly shorter lifespan? It was developed by Paradox North and published by Paradox Interactive. It opened in early access in 2014, then had a full release in April 2015. The idea was simple: take the signature elemental combinations from the original co-op Magicka and transform them into a team-based PvP action game. Two teams of four mages fought for respawn points, mixing the eight basic elements: fire, water, cold, earth, lightning, shield, life, and death. Like a battle between several Invokers, only more complex.

What captivated me was the intricate mechanics of combos and the sheer chaos on the battlefield. Friendly fire was always on, so a missed shot would instantly reduce an ally to ashes. Elements converged on the fly with quick keystrokes: in a matter of seconds, you could cast a healing aura, unleash a stream of flame, or rain down a meteorite on an enemy. Its high dynamics, dark humor, and magic made the project a unique beast in the Action MOBA niche.

Interest peaked during the beta phase and the first few months after release. Twitch was a hot topic back then, with duels between pros capturing attention. And the legendary Magicka series couldn’t help but draw in a growing audience, even if we missed out on the “Not a Vampire” jokes this time around.

And then the decline began. The entry barrier proved prohibitive. Newcomers died faster than they even realized they’d clicked: experienced players simply didn’t give them a chance. Conversion was abysmal, and the player base was dwindling before our eyes. The money from cosmetics wasn’t even enough to cover the servers. And by April 2016, Paradox announced its closure. The reason, as always, was simple: it wasn’t economically feasible.

The official servers are currently dead. But there’s a nice twist: fans have created “Wizard Wars Reborn.” They’ve recreated the server code, created a custom patch for the Steam client, and now support private servers. You can still play, but be prepared for client bugs, long matchmaking times, and a VERY high level of suffering against experienced mages.

Heroes of Newerth (2010-2022)

Heroes of Newerth was released in May 2010 by S2 Games and positioned as a direct, technologically advanced successor to the iconic Dota for Warcraft III. They took the core mechanics, balance, and heroes and transplanted everything into their own K2 Engine. They added integrated voice communication, crash protection, detailed statistics, and user-friendly controls: at the time, it was a breakthrough.

The game was remembered for its dark visuals and off-the-charts hardcore. HoN’s animations were superior to those of its competitors. And the voice acting? It featured the voice of Samuel L. Jackson—the same Nick Fury from The Avengers. All this created a devoted core of veterans around the game who never left. Its popularity peaked in 2010–2012. Back then, HoN was the premier esports discipline among team arenas, with major organizations maintaining rosters specifically for it.

And then began a classic self-inflicted tragedy. S2 Games released the game for $30 (B2P model), while Riot launched League of Legends for free. The logic is clear, but the mass audience chose the freebie. When S2 finally switched HoN to free-to-play, it was too late: people had already entrenched themselves in LoL. And in 2013, Valve released Dota 2, which finally killed the project. Transferring the rights to Frostburn Studios merely delayed the inevitable.

The official servers lasted until June 20, 2022. They’re gone now. But fortunately, enthusiasts launched Project Kongor, which maintains its own master servers, ratings, and even balance patches. So, if nostalgia keeps you up at night, you can find like-minded people.

Battlerite (2016-2019)

Stunlock Studios’ Battlerite is another sad story. It entered Steam Early Access in the fall of 2016, and its full free-to-play release came in November 2017. Essentially a direct successor to Bloodline Champions, the concept sounded like a pure PvP fan’s dream: an isometric arena, no minions, no towers, no farming, no map exploration. Simply two teams, 2v2 or 3v3, collide in compact spaces. All abilities are skill shots, and movement is controlled by WASD.

It was memorable for its relentless emphasis on individual skill. Timing, cooldown management, parries, interrupts: each round turned into a psychological battle with elements of chess. Matches lasted 5-10 minutes without a break, and every moment counted.

The peak came in late 2017 and early 2018. As soon as it went free-to-play, Steam’s online player count jumped to 45,000 concurrent players—a remarkable feat for such a niche. Everyone praised the graphics and combat system. It seemed the game was destined for success.

Then came a strange turn of events. Riding the wave of battle royale popularity, Stunlock decided they needed their own Battle Royale. Instead of integrating the mode into the main game, they released a separate paid product: Battlerite Royale . The community, to put it mildly, didn’t appreciate it. Players fled, new players didn’t join, and the old ones felt betrayed.

In the summer of 2019, development was officially suspended, and the team was transferred to other projects. Incidentally, the resulting project was V Rising , which was quite successful. Battlerite’s servers are still active, and you can log in on Steam and even find a match. But there are no more updates, and the game relies solely on a small circle of fans who still enjoy this experiment.

Strife (2015-2018)

Strife was developed by S2 Games, and they called their project a “second-generation MOBA.” It entered Steam Early Access on May 22, 2015. The idea sounded noble: remove systemic toxicity and lower the barrier to entry so that newcomers wouldn’t be afraid to join. Therefore, gold for finishing minions was shared among everyone in the lane, health and mana regenerated quickly outside of combat, and outside of matches, a pet and crafting system was available, allowing players to customize items to suit their style.

Strife’s vibrant visuals, pets with active abilities, and clever team mechanics are what made it memorable. It also featured a challenging boss, Kryptos: freed from its cage, the monster would slowly march down a lane, demolishing enemy fortifications. Its popularity peaked in the spring of 2015, immediately after its Steam release. At the time, the game boasted around 3,400 concurrent players, which is actually quite impressive for its niche.

But things went back to normal. The MOBA market was already saturated, and Strife’s casual focus couldn’t lure veterans away from Dota 2 and League. Online numbers quickly dropped below 500, and the matchmaking system went crazy: you’d be matched with either pros or newbies, and adequate matches became increasingly scarce. They tried to enter the Chinese market, but it didn’t work there either.

In October 2018, the servers shut down, quietly and routinely, without any big announcements. And with them, S2 Games itself ceased to exist. Fans then tried to support the project through Strife Community Edition, but that, too, petered out by May 2021; there simply wasn’t enough money for the servers. Now, the game’s Steam page is impossible to find. However, if you really want to, fan-made launchers allow you to launch the client and play against bots offline.

Spellbreak (2020-2023)

Spellbreak was published by the independent studio Proletariat Inc. The full release occurred on September 3, 2020, on PC, PlayStation 4, XBOX One, and Nintendo Switch. The idea was fresh: take the battle royale genre and throw out all the guns, replacing them with elemental magic. You played as a battle mage with magical gauntlets bound to fire, ice, lightning, stone, toxins, or wind.

The coolest thing about it was its real-time elemental interaction system. You could ignite a poisonous cloud and cause a volumetric explosion, freeze a tornado, or charge an icy puddle with electricity. All this with long hovering and high vertical mobility: the battles were reminiscent of dynamic anime battles. Plus, cross-play and cross-progression between all platforms worked from the very beginning, something rare back then.

The game’s greatest success came in the fall of 2020, immediately after the launch of the free version. It attracted several million players, and it seemed like a new star had arrived. But then, as happens with many successful projects, the core gameplay quickly became stale, and the small studio Proletariat simply couldn’t keep up with the pace of content development demanded by the battle royale market. Competing with Fortnite and Apex Legends proved impossible.

In June 2022, the studio was acquired by Blizzard Entertainment. The developers were redeployed to assist the World of Warcraft team, and the project was shut down. On January 10, 2023, the servers were shut down. But there’s good news: the developers released the server files publicly, and fans launched the “Elemental Fracture” project. So, you can still play Spellbreak on private servers.

Panzar (2012-2019)

I’m sure many people remember Panzar. Originally called Panzar: Forged by Chaos, it entered open beta in 2012, and the full release was in April 2013. It was built on CryEngine 3, and for its time, it looked absolutely fantastic. It featured third-person team combat in a fantasy setting, four races: humans, orcs, dwarves, and elves. And eight classes, each with their own specialization.

There were no useless roles: Orc tanks held the front with force shields, Dwarven sappers deployed teleporters and turrets, Sisterhood of Fire blanketed zones with powerful AoE, and Inquisitors emerged from stealth and pinpointed key targets. Everyone was needed. The foundation of success lay in 2013–2015, when everyone heard the hype. Servers in the CIS and Europe were overflowing with players, tournaments with real prizes were held, and the game was brought to exhibitions. Everything was going well.

Then the developers started messing with the economy. They introduced gear upgrading, runes, and power-ups for real money, and it quickly became a pay-to-win system. The gap between paying players and newcomers became simply unbearable, making it painful for newcomers to play. Since 2017, new content has practically stopped being released. Studio founder Dmitry Morozov and other key developers began leaving. They tried to relaunch the game for mobile with Panzar: Revolt, but the 2018 beta failed.

In October 2019, patch 45.6 was released, a purely technical update with no significant changes. Now the game is technically still alive, with servers running. But online play is almost nonexistent, and searching for matches is futile. Essentially, Panzar is just sitting there, waiting for someone to remember it still exists.

Infinite Crisis (2015-2015)

Finally, let’s remember another MOBA, Infinite Crisis, which had an even shorter lifespan than Magicka. This online arena game set in the DC universe was developed by Turbine and published by Warner Bros. After extensive closed and open testing, the game finally launched on Steam on March 26, 2015. Its main draw was the DC multiverse. You could take not only classic superheroes into the arena, but also their alternate selves from parallel universes.

You play as a regular Batman, a vampire Batman from a nightmare universe, a steampunk Catwoman, or a mecha-Wonder Woman. Meanwhile, you could destroy everything in the arenas—rip off elements of the environment, hurl cars and even meteorites at your enemies, and change lanes mid-match. It looked and sounded expensive.

Interest peaked right around the release in the spring of 2015. Comic book fans and MOBA enthusiasts watched the project with their mouths open. And then came the total failure. The market was oversaturated, leaving no room for another MOBA. Conversion and audience retention were catastrophically low: Warner Bros. quickly realized the project would never break even. And so they made a tough decision.

Just five months after its release, on August 14, 2015, the servers were shut down forever. The project was completely shut down, with no plans for revival. And here’s the interesting thing: no one even created private fan servers for the game. It’s impossible to play at all now. That’s just how it goes—a DC universe, a huge budget, and less than six months of life.

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Of course, this selection doesn’t include every project. Paladins , Paragon, Bloodline Champions, and a dozen other games could have been included. But even after evaluating the selection, several general patterns are already evident, which operate relentlessly in the marketplace. High-quality graphics and original ideas are certainly cool, but they’re not enough to ensure longevity.

The most common cause of death is poor monetization, and it can be both ways. There are games that give away too much, like Legends of Runeterra. And there are the opposite—an aggressive pay-to-win approach that causes the audience to flee within the first month, like what happened with Panzar.

If you enter a market where the genre is already occupied, it’s nearly impossible to lure players away. Heroes of the Storm, Infinite Crisis, and Strife were late arrivals, and even the big names didn’t help. People have already invested thousands of hours in their favorite MOBAs, and switching them to something new is like pulling a mandrake out of a pot.

However, if the developers open-source the server code or allow the community to take over the project, the game can live on even after its official closure. Enthusiasts work their magic, set up their own servers, coordinate on Discord, and the game continues.