Capcom just announced that it would be ending live service support for its co-op dinosaur mech game, Exoprimal, adding that no new content will be introduced just a year after the title's launch.
Exoprimal was originally launched in July 2023 as Capcom's brand-new intellectual property in an effort to have a successful live service project. Despite the variety of updates and crossovers that it got with other franchises, including Street Fighter, the game did not live up to expectations.
Exoprimal Live Service Support
(Photo : Capcom / Screenshot taken from Steam)
Based on numbers from SteamDB, Exoprimal had a 24-hour peak concurrent player count of only 66 on Valve's gaming platform. The studio said that with the release of Title Update 4, all of the planned seasonal content for Exoprimal has been finished.
After the game's Season 4, which will end on July 11, 2024, Season 1 will come back and mark the beginning of a recycling of already released content. From there, a new season will start on the first of each month, according to IGN.
In its announcement, Capcom said that the new process will allow players to obtain items from all of Exoprimal's seasons. This would essentially put the game in a Season 1 to Season 4 cycle that will keep going around and around until support for the game ends altogether.
The studio insisted that all of the game's online services will continue to be available for players to access. This means that Exoprimal will still be accessible despite the company essentially ending hands-on support for the co-op dinosaur mech game.
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All of the gameplay modes will also be available for players to access, including the main Dino Survival mode and endgame content such as Savage Gauntlet and Time Loop Rebellion. For those who are playing by themselves or match with only a few other players, Bots will still be added to fill in the gap.
Many developers are now expressing their concern regarding the sustainability of live-service games as they continue to compete with each other for player attention. In 2023, more than half of all playtime was spent on games that were more than six years old, including Fortnite and Minecraft, said GameSpot.
Returning Season Passes
On top of Exoprimal's seasons going back and forth, previously limited-time endgame missions and collaboration events will return on a weekly rotation. Capcom also released a full breakdown of the monthly season and weekly event rotation.
Another thing that is worth noting is that each season's Survival Pass will be available for purchase but only when that particular season is active. While a little bit clunky, it is a good thing that players will get a chance to access the content.
Capcom also said that it would be giving out a discounted bundle of all four premium season passes, which is good for those who want to get all the game has to offer. The shutdown of live-service support for Exoprimal comes as the game has had a few spikes following sales and updates.
However, it has failed to consistently retain a high player count, only hovering below 200 for the majority of the year, according to PCGamer.
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