Bossa Studios, the developers behind Surgeon Simulator and I Am Bread, have cancelled their Tony Hawk-meets-Splatoon after their free week for the game failed to hit a 100,000 player milestone.
Back in March, Bossa Studios took the strange tact of announcing that Decksplash's fate would be determined by a free weekend. If the player count hit 100k, they would release the game into Early Access on Steam. If the game failed to hit the number, they were going to cancel the game. Ultimately, the game failed to hit the numbers that Bossa Studios hoped for, though they have not detailed what numbers exactly it did hit. The website has been torn down and replaced with a farewell message thanking players for their support.
"We always knew that 100k was a big target, but it was the only way to make sure the game was a viable product for both yourselves and us in the long term, now we've gotten our answer," reads the site. "We want to thank everyone who supported us during the Free Week and let you all know that while this is the end of our story, we're glad we got to share it with you."
Our Take
Bossa Studios has other games in production, so Decksplash is not make-or-break. The overall tone of the cancellation is depressing, however, and it's a shame they couldn't make it happen.