Warhaven is Shutting Down

Nexon's Warhaven revealed that it's shutting down later this year. The unfortunate Warhaven news comes just four months after it began its early access phase in September.

The medieval fantasy PvP game caught the attention of some fans early on, who believed thatWarhaven could turn out to be one of the best games of its kind in 2023. Its hack-and-slash combat brought a unique approach to the genre and differed in key ways from other melee-focused medieval games like Chivalry or For Honor. Its combat mechanics were simpler and more intuitive than its competitors, creating a beginner-friendly experience while also offering a high skill ceiling through nuanced techniques. However, following its release, Warhaven never managed to take off and sits at a Mixed rating of 58% on Steam. Recently, Nexon made what is probably one of its final announcements regarding the game.

Nexon announced that Warhaven is shutting down on April 5 and has suspended sales of its battle pass. Warhaven's player count on Steam has steadily decreased since its initial peak, with its January peak sitting at only 314 players. Although many medieval melee fans have already moved on from the game, this probably comes as disappointing news as some may have hoped that Warhaven would eventually be improved to an enjoyable state. Nexon Korea, the Nexon subsidiary that developed Warhaven, will instead likely focus on its other projects like Dynasty Warriors M, a recently released mobile game that features city building and combat, and MapleStory N, an MMORPG set in the popular MapleStory universe that's still in development.

Previously, Nexon seemed to have pretty robust plans for the game's future when it released Warhaven's pre-Season 1 content in October. This content drop included the Soulsdance Festival event, new skins, and a Competition Mode. However, it seems that this update failed to capture users' attention as Warhaven's average player count decreased from about 4,500 in September to about 1,300