10 Video Games That Disappeared in 2023

10 Games That Disappeared in 2023

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at 10 games that totally vanished in 2023!

“Marvel’s Avengers” (2020)

With its disgusting monetization and putrid live service model, “Marvel’s Avengers” deserved every ounce of criticism it received. So many players refused to buy the game (or returned copies for refunds) that Square Enix lost more than sixty million dollars making the game. In January 2023, Crystal Dynamics announced that no further developments were being made. One final update would go out two months later, and the game would be pulled from sale on September 30, 2023. In that time, players were given eight months to grab the game for dirt cheap. Really, you could get it for less than five bucks in most places. While the removal of microtransactions was an improvement, it didn’t fix the cringey writing and mundane combat system. So…good riddance.

“Rumbleverse” (2022)

To its credit, “Rumbleverse” was a rather unique battle royale game. Through the theme of pro wrestling, players could run around a wide map fighting against other players while collecting items to boost stats and grant new attacks. It was a game where you had to build your loadout as the game progressed. Here’s the main problem, though - it was a battle royale game. We are at a point where the market has its stars. If you want a battle royale anything, you’re either playing “Fortnite”, “PUBG”, “Fall Guys”, “Apex Legends”, or “Call of Duty: Warzone” already. There simply isn’t room for anything else in this space. What Iron Galaxy put together here was cool and all, but everyone has already chosen their battle royale games. This effort felt like it was super late to the party. Who knows - maybe it would have found an audience had it come out in 2018.

“Friday the 13th: The Game” (2017)

Poor Jason had some real momentum going until a lawsuit brought the “Jason X” expansion to an immediate halt. Due to how long it went on for, developer Illfonic was forced to cease support entirely for the game, effectively canceling the expansion. Since 2018, the game has been on life support until it was announced in June 2023 that it was getting delisted. Publisher Gun Interactive slashed the price of the game from $19.99 to $4.99 USD and dropped all DLC prices to just under a buck. Servers for peer-to-peer matchmaking will remain active until December 31, 2024, but after that date, the game will become totally unplayable. No single-player challenges. No Virtual Cabin. Nothing will be accessible due to the game requiring a constant online connection.

“Pac-Man 99” (2021)

“Pac-Man 99” saw a somewhat lengthy lifespan compared to “Super Mario 35”. However, it sort of saw a similar fate to “Rumbleverse”. Not only was the battle royale market a crowded mess, most folks found more enjoyment in “Tetris 99”. Bandai Namco got behind “Pac-Man 99” for a while and even promoted it on Twitch with tournaments. Alas, it was not meant to be here for long. In May 2023, Nintendo announced that “Pac-Man 99” was going to be shutdown. Cosmetic purchases and DLC packs were delisted in August and September respectively. As for the base game, it was delisted in October. Servers closed the same day as the delisting.

“CrossfireX” (2022)

“CrossfireX” was one of the worst games we played in 2022. We honestly don’t know who was actively playing and championing the game until its death in 2023. On February 30, 2023, roughly a year since it launched on Xbox Series X/S, developer Smilegate Entertainment announced the game was getting delisted immediately and servers would be closed in May. Much like “Friday the 13th”, “CrossfireX” tied all of its content to a constant online connection. So regardless if you wanted to play multiplayer or single-player, nothing in the game would be accessible. Of course, why would you have wanted to play this dumpster fire in the first place?

“Video Horror Society” (2022)

Moving away from battle royales and shooters for a second, one corner of the internet was super excited for “Video Horror Society”. Fans of “Dead By Daylight” were super stoked to see a game with some promise to give DbD a run for its money. The unique theme of old horror VHS movies and more focus on letting the Killer and Survivors interact more was new and interesting. The honeymoon was over the second “Video Horror Society” finally launched. Interest died quickly as the game was drip-fed updates and many players soon discovered just how imbalanced the game was. Playing Killer was a miserable experience as Survivors were given so many opportunities to bully their way to victory. Eventually, Killer players left thus increasing queue times for Survivors thus causing Survivor players to leave until finally no one was playing. “Video Horror Society” shutdown on September 8, 2023 and is no longer purchasable. Now, the game only exists as a Steam store page.

“Rocket Arena” (2020)

At first, “Rocket Arena” looked like a promising PvP game. A whole online shooter centered on shooting rockets at each other? Well, it could have been fun if it wasn’t so slow. It didn’t help that the presentation and artstyle screamed “I want to be ‘Fortnite’” while the progression system was unbearably grindy. So, no one bothered to give it the time of day. Those that stayed quickly found themselves starved for new content. Publisher Electronic Arts tried desperately to boost numbers through free weekends and even through Xbox Game Pass and EA Play. Alas, it was not enough. “Rocket Arena” was delisted on November 14, 2023 with no notice to what little playerbase there may have been. By the time you see this video, the servers may have already been shutdown.

“Evolve” (2015)

“Evolve” has long been known to be one of the most infamously egregious online games to ever exist. Not only did it get pre-orders set up before any part of the game was shown, it failed to deliver anything remotely fun unless you were planning to turn the game into a second or third job. Regardless, it did manage to hold some form of a playerbase for eight straight years. “Evolve” even tried to shift to a free-to-play model, though it did very little to boost their numbers. While the game did get delisted way back in 2018 and lost its dedicated servers after the delisting, it wasn’t until July 6, 2023 when all online functionality ceased across all platforms. In other words, “Evolve” is now nothing more than broken code on plastic.

“The Day Before” (2023)

“The Day Before” might just be one of the most embarrassing scams to come from any developer within the last ten years. It’s one thing to blatantly copy another game’s artstyle and presentation. But then, there was the whole thing about unpaid “volunteers” getting participation certificates and free codes for their work. Then, there was the delay that was supposedly caused by “trademark issues” even though the delay was planned before that issue even came to fruition for developer Fntastic. Then, there was the constant lying about what kind of game it actually was. Then, not only do you miss your THIRD targeted release window two years after your initial one, you churn out an asset flip that is riddled with bugs and stolen assets! “The Day Before” lasted only FOUR DAYS on the market before it was suddenly delisted on December 11, 2023. What could have caused such a thing? Oh, it’s because the game generated NO revenue and the developer ran out of money!! And after nuking every presence across social media platforms, what does Fntastic have to say about this whole disaster? “This was our first big experience. Shit happens.”

The Entire Wii U & 3DS Library

This was the biggest loss for the gaming industry in terms of game preservation. In February 2022, Nintendo announced the eShops for the Wii U and 3DS would be shutting down. Players had until March 27, 2023. Video Games Chronicle estimates the shutdown led to the loss of roughly one thousand games that only ever saw digital-only releases. Some of Nintendo’s own titles got lost in the fire such as three “Kirby” games that only got digital releases, a couple “Mario vs. Donkey Kong” spin-offs, and a wealth of DLC for “Smash Bros.”, “Fire Emblem”, and more. Because of this loss, some developers are finding ways to bring their once 3DS-only titles forward to modern platforms. A couple you can look forward to are Capcom’s “Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy” and a Switch remaster of “Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon”. RIP, 3DS and Wii U - we barely knew you.

Did you get to play any of these before their plugs were pulled? Let us know down in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!