Live-Service Crisis: 15 of 19 Major 2025 Releases Lost Over 80% of Players

According to IGN, by late January 15 of the 19 major live-service games launched in 2025 had lost more than 80% of their initial playerbase. PlayStation has cancelled or halted over a dozen such projects in a decade, Sega scrapped its 'Super Game', and the battle royale sub-genre shrank 27%.

• 15 of 19 major live-service games launched in 2025 lost over 80% of players
• PlayStation cancelled or halted more than 12 live-service projects over a decade
• Battle royale sub-genre fell 27%; Fortnite and Apex lost nearly a quarter of playtime growth
• Free-to-play playtime dropped 11% on Xbox and 8% on PC