Game Servers Shutdown and Ongoing Offline Campaigns Across the Killzone Line
Guerrilla Games, the Dutch studio behind the Killzone franchise, confirmed that the online servers for three titles were shut down on August 12. The development studio reported the update through a gaming information portal, noting that players would no longer be able to access online modes in Killzone: Mercenary for PS Vita, Killzone: Shadow Fall for PS4, and the VR action title RIGS: Mechanized Combat League for PS4. The change also affects the cooperative Interception mode within Shadow Fall, effectively ending its online functionality. Despite these changes, the single-player offline campaigns for each game remain playable.]
The shutdown marks a continued trend for older titles in the series, as Killzone: Mercenary had already been offline in its online components for a period during the summer of 2020. This pattern reflects the typical lifecycle of multiplayer-dependent games, where server maintenance eventually ceases while the single-player experience can still be enjoyed on the original hardware and software configurations.
When Killzone: Mercenary first released on the handheld PS Vita in September 2013, it offered a distinctive on the go experience that leveraged the console’s unique controls. Killzone: Shadow Fall arrived with the PS4’s November 2013 launch, delivering a flagship cinematic shooter experience that emphasized a narrative-driven campaign and multiplayer modes. RIGS: Mechanized Combat League followed later, arriving in October 2016 as a VR-centric competitive title designed to showcase the capabilities of PlayStation VR and its motion tracking. As the years progressed, these entries found dedicated communities, even as servers wound down to preserve the offline, single-player aspects for new and returning players alike.
In related industry chatter, a separate report notes that Psychonauts 2 has disappeared from Russian Steam due to sanctions affecting Microsoft-backed storefronts. The situation highlights how political and corporate actions can influence access to widely played games, independent of a game’s age or popularity. Such shifts underscore a broader truth for players and collectors: even well-supported series can experience abrupt changes in availability and service, depending on regional policies and platform decisions.