Yager, the renowned developer known for games like Spec Ops: The Line and Dreadnought, has made the unfortunate announcement that its free-to-play PvPvE extraction shooter, The Cycle: Frontier, will be shutting down on September 27th. According to Yager, the game is not “financially viable” anymore.

The Cycle: Frontier, which was released on PC in June of last year, offers players the opportunity to form teams and take on the roles of Prospectors. These Prospectors are airdropped onto a hostile alien planet where they must gather resources, defend against predators and rival teams, and expand their arsenal. The ultimate goal is to return to space with all the hard-earned spoils.

Since its launch, The Cycle: Frontier has received three seasons of updates. However, Yager has now decided to end development, with the most recent patch being the final one.

In their announcement, Yager expressed their sadness in delivering the news and mentioned the improvements made to the game since its launch and during the release of Season 3. However, they had to acknowledge that The Cycle: Frontier is no longer financially sustainable. As a result, the decision was made to shut down the game on September 27, 2023, which was a difficult choice for the studio.

Yager also shared a detailed analysis of The Cycle: Frontier’s journey, highlighting one of the major challenges they faced – a significant increase in cheaters after the game’s launch. Unfortunately, Yager was not able to address this issue quickly enough, leading to a decrease in player numbers. Season 2 did not bring about the desired reversal in fortunes, and although changes to the game mechanics resulted in some success metrics improvement, it was insufficient to make the game financially sustainable.

While Yager did consider making the game available offline or on private servers, it was deemed unfeasible due to the nature of The Cycle’s server-based infrastructure and dedicated backend system.

In preparation for the shutdown in September, Yager has ceased all real-money purchases. However, the in-game shop will still offer daily and weekly rotations, with a massive discount of 95% or more on all items. Additionally, progression speeds will be increased, and all players will receive Season 3’s premium Fortuna Pass for free upon logging in. Yager will also refund any purchases made in the last 14 days.

Moving forward, Yager intends to focus on new projects, utilizing the valuable experience, learnings, and feedback gained from The Cycle: Frontier.

“We are incredibly grateful for all your support and dedication,” concluded Yager in their announcement. “We believe we have created something remarkable, and none of this would have been possible without each and every one of you. We are proud of our community, wish you all the best in your future endeavors, and hope to see you again. Enjoy your time on Fortuna III and, as always, remember…”.