Wargaming, the team behind World of Tanks, launched a new free-to-play shooter called STEEL HUNTERS in April 2025. But after only three months, they’ve decided to shut it down. That’s right. Even though the game was still in Early Access, it’s already been canceled.
STEEL HUNTERS was a PvPvE shooter with futuristic mech battles. In this game, players could level up their Hunter and upgrade their arsenal to turn rivals into scrap. They could choose their playstyle and combat tactics against 5 other duo teams.
Each Hunter was meant to favor a distinct playstyle and have a unique progression system. This would make them a true menace in battle. Players would collect boosters and gear to gain an advantage in combat against their rivals.
From the looks of it, the game’s launch wasn’t that great. According to SteamDB, it had a peak of 4.4K concurrent players. In the last 24 hours, it had a peak of 97 players. So, for a multiplayer game, this is a dead game. So, in a way, I’m not really surprised it got canceled.
The game currently has Mixed reviews on Steam. While its concept sounded cool, it appears the actual game did not live up to players’ expectations. Not only that, but Wargaming did not do much to improve things. Or at least that’s what a lot of players claim.
Wargaming claimed that the servers will stay live for 90 days. This means that the game will no longer be playable on October 8th, when the servers will shut down. In the coming weeks the devs will roll out custom game support. This will allow you to play with your friends, set up community matches, and create some final memories together. Plus, the devs will unlock all Hunters for you to try.
So, another one bites the dust. At least this time, it’s just a free-to-play (F2P) game. And like I always say — there’s absolutely no reason to spend money in a F2P game. If the devs made it super grindy on purpose, just skip it and find something better. You should never pay to win in a F2P game!
