Developer Improbable has announced that its online shooter Scavengers will end service next month on December 16. Improbable explained that the shut down was due to a declining player base during the game's current Early Access period.

Releasing an Early Access title comes with the benefit of ironing out kinks before a hopeful 1.0 release. But it can just as easily show how much momentum a game has in reality versus initial expectations. 

"Whilst we explored many options to reinvigorate server population while the game is in early access, it became clear that it was unsustainable to continue development and live service," wrote Improbable. 

Scavengers launched in 2021 from then-Improbable subsidiary Midwinter Entertainment. In May of this year, Midwinter was sold off to Behaviour Interactive, makers of Dead by Daylight, as part of the publisher's desire to reorient itself around the metaverse. 

Another part of Improbable's metaverse move was selling off its stake in developer Inflexion Games to Tencent. 

Even before this year's metaverse shift, though, releasing games was a hurdle for Improbable. The studio entered game development in 2019 after previously being a tool-maker for larger developers, but several intended games from the publisher have either been sold to another publisher or cancelled entirely. 

At time of writing, the sole exception appears to be Seed, an MMO simulation title that concluded a playtest in early October.