Sony delists and shuts down PS5 multiplayer game Destruction AllStars
Overview & Key Takeaways
Destruction AllStars, a one-time PlayStation 5 launch game, has been removed from the PlayStation Store and taken offline, 5 years after release.
Destruction AllStars was one of the first PlayStation 5 games announced by Sony Interactive Entertainment back in 2020 at the company's "Future of Gaming" event, where the current-gen PlayStation was officially unveiled. Developed by Lucid Games, Destruction AllStars was pitched as "an action-packed sports event that pits drivers against one another in an intense competition."
Now, more than five years after the game's launch, Sony has delisted Destruction AllStars and shut down the game's multiplayer servers. "Multiplayer services for Destruction AllStars have been taken offline," reads a notice on the game's PS5 user interface, as spotted by Radec on X. "Destruction Points have been removed from sale on the PlayStation Store and can be redeemed until November 25, 2026. Arcade mode remains accessible for returning players."
Destruction AllStars was originally intended to be a PS5 launch title, and was originally priced at $69.99. But a few weeks before the November 2020 launch of the PS5, Sony delayed the futuristic destruction derby game's launch to February 2021, and slashed its price to $19.99. Destruction AllStars would also be available as a perk for PlayStation Plus subscribers, Sony announced at the time.
Even with the new strategy, Destruction AllStars didn't land with critics or audiences. The PS5 game has mixed or average critic reviews according to Metacritic, with a 62 average. User scores were lower, with a "generally unfavorable" 4.9 rating from players. According to OpenCritic, only 10% of critics recommended the game.
One of the more common criticisms of Destruction AllStars was that it was light on content but heavy on microtransactions. It couldn't compete with competitive free-to-play fare of the time, like Rocket League — which benefited from being a PlayStation Plus freebie. And it certainly wasn't the Twisted Metal successor that some early PlayStation 5 adopters might have hoped for.
Destruction AllStars was developed by Lucid Games, which was founded in 2011 by former members of the Bizarre Creations team. The studio is perhaps better known for creating Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions, and has in recent years served as a support studio on Rare's Sea of Thieves.
The closure of Destruction AllStars is the latest live-service game shake-up from PlayStation, following the high-profile failure of Concord in 2024, the cancellation of the highly anticipated The Last of Us multiplayer spinoff in 2023, and cancellations of in-development projects from Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games.
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