CrossfireX was never a top-tier title by any means. Since it launched, it was plagued by a poor reception, even poorer delivery, and a lifecycle that never amounted to much. This decision has reportedly been made by the core developer, Smilegate, based on the reasoning that ‘the game isn’t ultimately where it needs to be’.
Bizarrely, CrossfireX isn’t just losing its multiplayer platform, which was developed by Smilegate, but also the single-player platform, which was pieced together by Remedy, the developer behind Alan Wake and Control, among other titles. From May 18th, 2023, the entire end-to-end offering of CrossfireX will effectively cease to exist.
You Get Nothing… Nothing!
CrossfireX was released in February 2022, which means it didn’t even make it a full year before it was canned. It’s a part of the Crossfire series, which has foundations that stretch back as far as 2007, emerging back then as something of an attempted competitor to Counter-Strike.
Made up of two parts: the free-to-play multiplayer and the paid single-player portion, CrossfireX was an Xbox-exclusive title that never fared too well. From the moment it dropped, reviews were sour, disappointing, and negative across the board. For instance, IGN rated the multiplayer 2/10.
It’s all moot now because CrossfireX will officially be shut down in full from May 18th.
In a heartfelt statement, the developers made a few points clear:
- As of now, all sales on the Xbox Store are halted.
- There will be absolutely nothing new added between now and the shutdown.
- Purchases made within the last 14 days are eligible for a refund.
- On May 18th, both the multiplayer and single-player portions of the game will be made totally inaccessible.
As the multiplayer side of CrossfireX was a free-to-play platform, it boasts microtransactions that were put in place to fund development. Unfortunately, the players that poured any finances into the platform will be left out in the cold with nothing to show for their expenditure.
Recently, it was revealed that Back 4 Blood will be shelved by its developers, and at Respawn, an unannounced Titanfall game was also canned. What’s next?
For more Insider Gaming news, check out our coverage of the news that Microsoft is not shutting down the Xbox 360 marketplace.
