Servers for Turtle Rock Studios’ Evolve will be shutting down this September, publisher 2K announced.
Evolve Stage 2, the free-to-play PC version of the title, will no longer be available, while features such as the in-game shop, the leaderboard and ranked games will disappear as well.
From July 2nd, virtual currency bundles won’t be available to purchase anymore, before the servers (and the in-game store) shut down for good on September 3rd. So all purchases of DLC and items have to be made before that date.
Players who own a copy of the game will still be able to play Legacy Evolve on both PC and consoles, where peer-to-peer multiplayer will still be available, and all players will retain all purchased DLC and items, including Hunters, Monsters, and skins.
Evolve was initially due to release in October 2014 and ended up launching in February 2015. Before being picked up by 2K, the title was due to release through THQ but the firm collapsed. After this rocky path to even reach release, Evolve got mixed reviews at launch, which led Turtle Rock to turn the title into a free-to-play game a year and a half after launch. Back then, co-founders of the studio Chris Ashton and Phil Robb, said: “The DLC shitstorm hit full force and washed away people’s enthusiasm, dragging us further and further from that first magical pick-up-and-play experience.”
The studio was hoping that the free-to-play transition (which divided the game between the base game, called Legacy Evolve, and the free-to-play PC version called Evolve Stage 2) would bring the magic back, though unfortunately the developers announced a few months later that it would no longer support the title.
For more info on what will remain in Legacy Evolve after the servers shut down, check the original announcement.