PlayStation gamers pay tribute as fan-favourite game confirms it's shutting down for good

PlayStation gamers are paying tribute to a fan-favourite Monster Hunter-inspired game which is shutting down for good in just a few short months.

If you’re after a fun monster-hunting multiplayer game to play with friends, it doesn't get much better than Capcom’s Monster Hunter series. After all, it’s all in the name.

The original Monster Hunter was released in 2004 on the PlayStation 2 and over the years, the series has grown bigger and arguably better with each new release across multiple platforms including PC, Xbox and Nintendo.

The latest game in the Capcom series will arrive later this week on Friday 28 February, titled Monster Hunter Wilds.

In our review of Monster Hunter Wilds, we said: “The open worlds feel like the perfect arenas to slay a near-endless number of monsters, and there’s more than enough to do in between the hunts to keep you occupied and feeling like you’re progressing and improving as a hunter.”

Many games have tried to get a slice of that Monster Hunter pie but few have succeeded, at least to the same level as the Capcom property. One such game is Dauntless, developed and published by Phoenix Labs.

Check out the Dauntless trailer below!

Dauntless was released in 2019 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch before receiving new-gen updates in 2021.

Much like the Monster Hunter series, in Dauntless, players (aka Slayers) must work together in the hope of taking down huge creatures known as Behemoths. It was a lot of fun but ultimately, the numbers quite reached the necessary heights.

On SteamDB, Dauntless only ever managed an all-time concurrent player peak of just 3,221. We don’t have exact numbers for each console platform but I would imagine it's in the same ballpark elsewhere.

As such, Phoenix Labs has announced that the Dauntless servers will be shut down on 29 May 2025. On this day, Dauntless will not be playable even offline. “Thanks to all for being a part of the Dauntless journey,” tweeted the official Twitter account for the game.

Following the disappointing news for those who still play Dauntless, fans have reacted on Reddit.

“That sucks for everyone involved. I played it quite a bit a few years back and loved it,” said NeptunePirate.

In 2023, Phoenix Labs was bought out by the blockchain company Forte Labs, with some fans believing this was the start of Dauntless’ demise.

“Not surprising but it is tragic, this didn’t need to happen. Sod crypto and sod venture capitalists,” exclaimed Born2beSlicker. “RIP Phoenix Labs.”

“I enjoyed Dauntless, it was a fun, simple and cosy Monster Hunter-type game. Sounds like a conflict of interests within the studio had ruined it,” replied After-Ad-1899.

As disappointing as this news is for some, at least the Monster Hunter series is still going strong. Monster Hunter Wilds will be released on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.