Jump Force's servers are shutting down next year

This story about video game deaths, boiled down, in 1:48 minutes.

What's the fuss?

A fighting game that united famous anime characters from different franchises will officially "die" less than 3 years after release. For a AAA title, this is a swift execution.

The situation

Before its release in early 2019, Jump Force was seen as a promising fighting game for anime and manga fans. 

• Players could take control of their favourite Shonen anime heroes and duke it out against other characters in a crossover showdown, similarly to games such as Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. or Nickelodeon All Star Brawl.
• Upon release, the game was critically and commercially panned due to its poor story mode and uninteresting gameplay mechanics.

The publisher of the game announced that the game will be completely removed from digital storefronts in North America on February 7, 2022. 

• The title's servers will also go offline on August 24 of the same year, effectively removing the ability to participate in most online events.
• Offline functionality, such as the game's story mode, will still be available as well as continued support for casual online battles.

Boiling it down

The publisher of Jump Force might as well have said "the game is dead".

• A game is considered dead when it's no longer possible to find the required amount of gamers to play it.

• Despite the developer behind the game continuing to release new characters over time, it was never enough to increase its player base sufficiently enough to be considered a "success".

On the bright side, the few fans left of Jump Force still have the capacity to play the game post-August.

• The problem with a "digital-only" future (i.e. purchasing games online vs physical copies) is that once a game is gone, it's gone for good.
• Hence for the purposes of game preservation, it is important for games to not only be sold via disc, but to be able to be played offline.

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