The Culling: Origins
Although the rebooted free-to-play game did manage to survive longer than The Culling 2, it too has reached the end of its life. On May 15th 2019, Xaviant will permanently shutdown the online servers of The Culling. Director of Operations Josh Van Veld shared the news in a heartfelt farewell message. “The Culling has had a wild ride,” writes Van Veld. “Since the game’s original launch in March of 2016, more than 3 million of you have tested your resolve on the island, with nearly half that number joining the fray since The Culling: Origins became free to play on Xbox One last November.” “When we launched the Origins update and made the game free to play, our hope was that the revenue generated from in-app purchases would be enough to sustain our team and support ongoing development, but unfortunately that was not the case,” he continues. Van Veld explains that, despite the large influx of players, Xaviant was forced to reduce their team size and cease development on The Culling. When the game transitioned to a free-to-play model, a premium currency was introduced. The ‘Tokens’ currency could be used to purchase ‘Cull Crates’ containing premium cosmetic items. Alongside the Steam page of the game, these in-app purchases will be disabled “as soon as possible.” “While it’s sad for us to say goodbye, we want to offer a sincere and heartfelt thank you to everyone who has enjoyed the game, contributed feedback, and spent their hard-earned money to support our efforts over the years.” However, there might still be hope for the franchise. Xaviant is currently looking for other studios who could explore the “game’s potential” and “make great things happen.” Considering the series’ unfortunate past, it’s unlikely that any developer would take on the project.
