Quantic Dream shutting down Spellcasters Chronicles after 3 months

Polygon RSS Feed✍ Giovanni Colantonio📅 May 20, 2026⏱ 2 min read(3 months ago)

Overview & Key Takeaways

Spellcasters Chronicles, Quantic Dream's stab at the MOBA genre, is shutting down after 3 months of early access, but Star Wars Eclipse lives on.

Only three months after its early access release, Quantic Dream is shutting down Spellcasters Chronicles. The multiplayer MOBA will remain online until June 19 as development ends and Quantic Dream undergoes an "internal reorganization."

But that grim-sounding studio update won't negatively impact development of Quantic Dream's long-in-development Star Wars game, Star Wars Eclipse, the company said.

Spellcasters Chronicles launched into early access on Feb. 26. The 3v3 game, where players fought using a roster of magical heroes, looked to shake up League of Legends' MOBA formula in a more approachable, strategic form. It didn't seem to connect with players at the time; Steam user reviews are currently "mixed" with just over 800 reviews. On Wednesday, Quantic Dream announced that it is ending development for the game in a note posted to its X account.

"In today's particularly challenging market environment, [Spellcasters Chronicles] has not reached the audience it needed to ensure its long-term sustainability," the unsigned note reads. "We have therefore made the difficult decision to refocus our efforts on our other projects. As part of this decision, the studio will undertake an internal reorganization. We are fully committed to handling this transition with fairness, care, and respect, and will prioritize internal assignments wherever possible to support our other productions."

Quantic Dream confirmed that development is being "discontinued" on Spellcasters Chronicles, though it will remain online until June 19. Servers will be shut down on that date and those who spent money on the game during the early access period will be eligible for full refunds upon request.

The studio also confirmed that the move will have no impact on the development of Star Wars Eclipse. The Star Wars game was announced at The Game Awards in 2021, but Quantic Dream has been virtually radio silent on its progress since then.

Spellcasters Chronicles is just the latest in a wave of live service games that have struggled to find an audience in 2026, a growing list that includes the now-offline Highguard. In our hands-on preview of Spellcasters Chronicles last November, Josh Broadwell praised the game's approachable MOBA format, but wasn't sure about its long-term viability.

"Whether that's enough to help it avoid the fate of most recent multiplayer games is anyone's guess, but it's enough to keep me interested, at least," Broadwell wrote.

The live-service shooter failed to find a consistent player base

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