Tribes 3: Rivals was supposed to be the triumphant return of the shooter series, but players apparently see things differently, because despite solid reviews, it is now threatened with extinction.
And yet another game that hits the wall head first and without a helmet. Tribes 3: Rivals was supposed to bring the fast-paced shooter series, which enjoyed some success several years ago, back into the spotlight. But Prophecy Games didn’t take the players into account, because they apparently just don’t want to play the shooter, even if the few who play it leave positive reviews.
The title didn’t even have 900 players at its peak, and currently there are just 35 lonely souls playing at the same time. That’s what you’d call a colossal flop. Too few, even for early access, which costs less than 10 dollars with the current discount. The developer has already experienced something similar with Starsiege: Deadzone.
Players of both games will now receive credits for their participation in another game, namely Ultra Striker. What will happen next with Tribes and Starsiege is completely up in the air. In a Statement on Steam is it[called:
“With these credits, we want to give back to the players who supported us during the early stages of development. We are doing our best to support Tribes 3 with limited updates (along with an upcoming discount sale to attract more players), and plan to return to Starsiege Deadzone once the company has the resources, but unfortunately both games have not yet had enough success to support the studio and cannot be our main development focus at the moment (as much as we love them).”
It remains to be seen whether Ultra Strikers will do better, as the 3v3 sports shooter doesn’t exactly look like a hit at first glance. However, if Ultra Striker also fails, the future of Tribes 3 will probably be sealed for good.