Darwin Project development ends, servers to stay operational until end of year at least

Darwin Project
Darwin Project (Image credit: Scavengers Studio)

What you need to know

  • Darwin Project is a free-to-play battle royale game on Xbox One.
  • It's been in Xbox Game Preview for a while now.
  • The game's April update will be its last.
  • You can download Darwin Project through the Microsoft Store.

Battle royale games are becoming increasingly popular, and with the success of titles like Fortnite and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, the genre is thriving. One such game that was revealed during Microsoft's E3 2017 press conference was Darwin Project.

Darwin Project never really caught on and it looks like this has impacted the studio severely. The team said the following on its website.

We have been quiet for a while and we apologize for it. We would like to update you on Darwin Project. It is with a heavy heart that we have decided to stop developing new features for the game. April's update was the last one for the foreseeable future. Five years ago, we started Darwin Project, our first project. It was a very bold and ambitious one, to say the least, and we have been fortunate enough to have worked on it for so long, with the support of our partners and community. Over the past years, we saw a decreasing player base, and have been working hard on finding solutions –from a new platform development to bringing new content... spectator interactions extension, and continuous optimizations. We have assessed all potential solutions and scenarios, but unfortunately, Darwin Project is unable to sustain itself thus forcing us to come to this very difficult decision. We are still very proud to see what had started as a scribble on a piece of paper become a fully released game that has reached millions of players. We will keep Darwin Project servers up at least through to the end of the year, and you will still be able to play the game. We truly and deeply appreciate everything the community has put into the Darwin Project. We received tons of passionate ideas and suggestions to improve the game. It shows how incredibly supportive you have been throughout this journey. We can't thank you enough for your love and support over the past four years.

We wish the team the best and hopefully, it'll work out for everyone in the long run. Did you play Darwin Project? Let us know.

Asher Madan

Asher Madan handles gaming news for Windows Central. Before joining Windows Central in 2017, Asher worked for a number of different gaming outlets. He has a background in medical science and is passionate about all forms of entertainment, cooking, and antiquing.