The Extraction shooter Level Zero piqued the curiosity of many players with fresh ideas. But now development has officially been discontinued.
Monsters against mercenaries: This is not only the rough principle of , albeit with one crucial difference. In Level Zero, you can also play the monsters and hunt the soldiers exploring secret research facilities. But they, too, are divided into several competing groups, just like in Hunt.
With this approach and some fresh ideas, Level Zero piqued the curiosity of many players. But now it is clear that the dream of a new competitor for established extraction shooters is dead. Level Zero is officially discontinuing development.
What happened?
It was only at the end of January that Level Zero heralded the end of Early Access with a major update including a new map, a new game mode and additional content. Just two weeks later, the developers announced on Steam that there would be no more new content for the shooter. Although the servers are to remain online, there will be no more updates or events.
The reason: Level Zero has developed below expectations.It is simply no longer possible for the relatively small development team to finance further development.In its message, the studio also suggests that combining an extraction shooter with asymmetrical horror was perhaps too great a challenge.
The developers then thank all fans for their support and express their regret at the early end of the project.
Lost trust
Even before the announcement, it became apparent to Level Zero that the hoped-for success was not materializing. Shortly after the release, the number of players dropped to a very low level and was unable to recover even after the release of version 1.0.
The Steam ratings, which were only balanced anyway, didn’t get any better either: Many players felt that the state of the shooter had gotten worse rather than better after the release in early access. The optional mode without monsters, which is included in the last update, is also harshly criticized, as it removes the game’s unique selling point.
Many reviews reflect the great disappointment of fans who had initially seen great potential in Level Zero. They accuse the developers of not taking good enough care of their game.
Doghowl Games, the young studio behind Level Zero, of course, contradicts these accusations and says in the last message on Steam that they have given it their all.
The developers will move on to the next project after the failure. Once again, they want to try their hand at a multiplayer game, but this time they want to focus purely on co-op. After the abrupt end of the Extraction shooter, enthusiasm among fans of Level Zero is likely to be limited for the time being.
