Just four months after launching into early access, Nexon's 'full contact sword action' game Warhaven is shutting down

Warhaven screenshot - medieval knights in armor rushing into battle — (Image credit: Nexon)

The team-based swords-and-sorcery brawler Warhaven launched into early access on Steam on September 20, 2023. Today, just four months later, Nexon has announced that it will be closing down for good in April.

"Today, we are here to announce with a heavy heart that we will be concluding the live services of Warhaven," Nexon wrote on Steam.

"To create a game that could be cherished and enjoyed over an extended period, we invested much consideration and effort. However, regrettably, we must bid our sincere farewell as of April 5, 2024. We apologize that we could not come to you with better news."

Warhaven came off like a cross of Chivalry and For Honor when we first looked at it in 2022. It pits teams of 16 players against each other in brawls using blades, bows, and magic, with six different characters bringing unique weapons and abilities to the fight. Players also had the ability to transform into god-like Immortals, granting them devastating powers that, with a little luck, could quickly turn the tide of a losing battle.

It looked like a potentially promising take on medieval melee brawlers, but even as a free-to-play game Warhaven struggled to find an audience. From a peak concurrent player count of 8,850 at launch, the numbers quickly slid down to just a few hundred at a time, while user reviews on Steam are mixed: Players complained about balance issues, server instability, and XP caps that artificially slowed battle pass progress.

Several negative reviewers also complained about changes made to Warhaven between the beta test sessions and the early access release. "I loved this game in the betas," one Steam user wrote. "With the release though, they've reduced squad size to three people, and even worse you can only incarnate into an Immortal once per game now, which was the most enjoyable part. Incredibly disappointing, was really excited to play this again."

"Bring back the beta," another said, describing the early access release as "a stripped-down version" of the beta build. "Although even in beta there was chaos with Immortals, it was fun back then. There is no 'fun' now."

Nexon said sales of the World Pass, Warhaven't battle pass, will be halted today, while "exact details of the schedule," possibly suggesting some in-game farewell events may be on the way, will be revealed later.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.