NetEase announced on Wednesday April 27th that two of their older multiplayer titles had been removed from sale and that they would be completely shut down on June 27th. Both launched in 2018, Rules of Survival was a take on the battle royale formula while Creative Destruction leaned more into Fortnite territory. Each game was available on Steam and through a PC client from NetEase as well as on mobile for Android and iOS. The games were removed from their respective stores on the same day, April 27th, along with in-game purchases and the ability to register new accounts. Current players have about two months to jump into the games and use up their remaining currency or file for refunds. The pair of announcements follows:
Thank you for your continuous support towards Rules of Survival—Steam! In light of changes made to the operations of the game, Rules of Survival—Steam will cease operations starting from June 27, 2022 (15:00). Details are as follows:
1. April 27, 2022 (16:00): Download on Steam will be removed, players will no longer be able to download the game, and all top-ups and new registrations will be disabled.
2. June 27, 2022 (15:00): All game operations will be terminated on Steam and game servers will be shut down. (Players will not be able to log in the game or the official website; the Customer Service portal will also be unavailable)
NOTE: After game servers have been shut down, all account data and character info (including but not limited to characters, Diamonds, items, materials) will be deleted.
Thank you to everyone who has offered tremendous support to Rules of Survival—Steam. From the date of this announcement, unused in-game Diamonds can still be used before June 27, 2022 (15:00). We hope you will keep enjoying the game. Please be informed and spread the news. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our customer service.
Just like you, it’s hard for us to say goodbye to Rules of Survival—Steam. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for your support and understanding. We hope to see you again in other NetEase games!
Rules of Survival Team, April 27, 2022
Thank you for your continued support and love for Creative Destruction. With a heavy heart, we are announcing that the servers of Creative Destruction will close permanently at 4 PM (GMT+8), June 27, 2022. From the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank everyone who has supported Creative Destruction till now.
To ensure a smooth process, our schedule are listed as follows:
– In-game purchases and user registration disabled – 2 PM (GMT+8), Apr 27, 2022
– APP download disabled – 4 PM (GMT+8), Apr 27, 2022
– In-game top-ups disabled – 4 PM (GMT+8), May 46, 2022
– Closing game operation and server (Players will not be able to log in the game or the official website; the Customer Service portal will also be unavailable) – 4 PM (GMT+8), June 27, 2022Note: All account and character data will be erased after the server shuts down. If there are any additional questions, please feel free to contact our customer service.
This has been an incredibly difficult decision for us to make, and the team is also deeply saddened by it. However, at the same time, we also feel proud because we got to share this journey with a player community as great as you. Thank you for playing, and please continue to enjoy Creative Destruction until June 27!
Creative Destruction Dev Team, April 27, 2022
Based on SteamDB player data, Rules of Survival has seen less than 1,000 daily active players since early in 2019 while Creative Destruction dipped consistently below 1,000 players around June of 2020. The decision to shut down the games is likely based on their dwindling player bases and profits from in-game purchases.
I’ve added the date to the Watch List calendar and will have pages up on the site later. Thanks to Jojoman32 for pointing out the news.