After being online for a short 6 months, Capcom is shutting down services for one of my favorite puzzlers of all time, Puzzle Fighter, on July 1st. By the time it is pulled, the game will have only been live for 8 months in total.
This means that come July 31st the game will no longer be playable at all, mainly because the title needs an internet connection to operate, which is the major problem with these "games as a service" titles; if you don't keep them connected to the internet, there is no chance to bombard players with ads, banners, and of course, chances to buy things with real money. Apparently, Puzzle Fighter wasn't raking in enough dough, because Capcom is pulling the game.
Capcom is offering all players 10,000 gems, which serves as Puzzle Fighter's in game currency, as a thank-you gift, in addition to two new characters, Regina and Dr. Wily, who were added to the game for free on 4/20, plus the upcoming character, Ada Wong (from the Resident Evil series) and two new stages, Darminor and Uroboros Laboratory will be free to all players, available today.
Initially launched for iOS and Android devices in November 2017, Puzzle Fighter was developed by Capcom Vancouver, who are best known for the Dead Rising series. According to the publisher, a big reason why Puzzle Fighter is dying is so it can be fed to the zombie series (kind of).
In a post of the Capcom unity blog, the company had this to say:
"As the studio is dedicating its focus to our flagship Dead Rising franchise, we have decided to sunset Puzzle Fighter. We appreciate the fans who have supported Puzzle Fighter until this point. We thank you for playing the game and hope to ensure your remaining time with Puzzle Fighter is an enjoyable one."
I'll admit that I like the term "sunset". It sounds dignified.
"It think i'll take my supper on the porch, then I'ma have to sunset ol Yeller there."
Puzzle Fighter will be removed from app stores on July 1, and the option to spend money on in-app purchases will be disabled on April 23.
