"Spectre Divide Shuts Down 6 Months Post-Launch"

Spectre Divide and its developer, Mountaintop Studios, have announced their closure due to the game failing to meet financial expectations. Here's a detailed look at the situation, including statements from Mountaintop Studios' CEO and the reasons behind the shutdown.

Spectre Divide to Cease Operations in 30 Days

Season 1 and Console Launch Fell Short of Expectations

Tactical FPS game, Spectre Divide, will shut down just six months after its launch. This decision follows the disappointing performance of its first season and console release. On March 13, the game's official Twitter (X) account shared the news with its community.

Mountaintop Studios CEO Nate Mitchell expressed his gratitude and disappointment, stating, "It’s been two weeks since we launched Spectre Divide Season 1: Flashpoint. We’re incredibly grateful for the positivity and support that you’ve shown over that short time. Unfortunately, the Season 1 launch hasn’t achieved the level of success we needed to sustain the game and keep Mountaintop afloat."

Despite an optimistic start with over 400,000 players and a peak concurrent player count of around 10,000 across all platforms in the first week, the game struggled to maintain active players and generate sufficient revenue to support ongoing operations.

The Verge reported in December 2024 that Mountaintop Studios was facing financial difficulties, with the console launch and Season 1 being their last efforts to revive the game. Game Director Lee Horn noted that server issues at launch significantly hampered the game's momentum. Mitchell added, "If they aren’t into season one, the way we hope they are, we’ll have to take a hard look at if we should keep going on as we are, or if players are telling us this isn’t what we want."

Spectre Divide is set to go offline within 30 days. The studio plans to disable new purchases and refund money spent by players since the Season 1 relaunch, with more details to be announced soon.

Spectre Divide Shuts Down Despite $30 Million Funding

The closure of Mountaintop Studios comes as a surprise, especially after raising $30 million in funding last year. The company announced on LinkedIn in 2024 that the funding came from top investors including Anthos Capital, RX3 Growth Partners, A16Z GAMES, and other angel investors.

Despite this significant investment, the game and studio could not thrive. Mitchell explained, "We pursued every avenue to keep going, including finding a publisher, additional investment, and / or an acquisition. In the end, we weren’t able to make it work. The industry is in a tough spot right now."

He further elaborated on their vision, "We wanted to deliver something innovative and original in a crowded genre that would bring friends together around unforgettable moments. We shook up the format, created a fresh art style and universe, and partnered with some of our heroes. All of us knew from the beginning that the odds were against us, but that’s what we signed up for. It was never a surefire bet. We did it anyway."

Spectre Divide joins the ranks of other live-service games that have failed, such as Multiversus, Babylon’s Fall, Concord, and cancelled projects like The Last of Us Online and the reported God of War live service game.

Mountaintop Studios to Close by Week's End

Mitchell confirmed that Mountaintop Studios will shut down by the end of the week, as the studio has exhausted its remaining capital. He stated, "Since the PC launch, we stretched our remaining capital as far as we could, but at this point, we’re out of funding to support the game. This means Mountaintop will be closing its doors at the end of this week."