Summary
Hi-Rez Studios has announced thatRealm Royale Reforged, the studio’s battle royale game, will be shutting down on June 07, 2025. The announcement ofRealm Royale Reforged’s shutdown comes less than three weeks after Hi-Rez CEO Stewart Chisam revealed that the studio would be laying off team members as part of an internal reorganization.
As per an X post from Chisam, thelayoffs at Hi-Rezwere a product of a “comprehensive review” of the studio’s “strategy and operations.” This review informed Hi-Rez’s decision to focus its efforts almost-entirely onSmite 2, the studio’s newest third-person MOBA, and Chisam’s post indicated thatSmite 1andPaladinswould be the only other titles to receive ongoing support.
It is thus not particularly surprising to see support for Hi-Rez’s otherlive-service gamescome to an end, andRealm Royale Reforgedwill be among the first taken offline. This is set to occur on May 18, 2025 at 12pm EDT, and the game will be removed from digital storefronts at that time.
Digital Knockout is Also Shutting Down
Realm Royale Reforgedis not the only Hi-Rez Studios game shutting down, asDivine Knockoutwill also be sunsetting its servers on July 29, 2025 at 12pm EDT. While this title, a 3Dplatform fighter, never had as many players asRealm Royale, it is disappointing to see the game taken offline nonetheless. As withRealm Royale,Divine Knockoutwill be removed from digital storefronts alongside the shutdown of its servers, making the game unavailable for download.
With support forRealm Royale ReforgedandDivine Knockoutcoming to an end, Hi-Rez Studios is left with four live-service titles:Smite,Smite 2,Paladins, andRogue Company. While Chisam’s aforementioned post confirmed that the first three of those titles will continue to receive varying degrees of updating, it said nothing aboutRogue Company. This seems to suggest that the studio also plans to takeRogue Companyoffline, though that is not currently confirmed.
That said,Rogue Companydoes appear to be maintaining a slightly larger playerbase on Steam than the titles that are set to be taken offline. Indeed,Rogue Companyhas a 24-hour peak of over 500 players, whileRealm Royale Reforgedhas a 24-hour peak of just over 300 players andDivine Knockouthas a 24-hour peak of under 50 players. While these additional players may not ultimately be enough to justifyRogue Company’s continuation, they could encourage Hi-Rez to keep thetactical shooter’s servers going beyond February.
