After a mixed run since its release in September of 2016, Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade has officially been shut down. Behaviour Interactive, the developer of the game, announced back in July of this year that it would be shutting the servers down and, as of September 10, it is officially impossible to play Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade.
Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade was an online third-person shooter in which players could take on different races from the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It brought players to the planet Arkhona and took place in the distant future where human civilization comes to blows with hostile alien and supernatural forces.
As of this writing, there is no way for players to play Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade. In the announcement on the game's Steam page, the developers wrote: "As part of the shutdown, all personal data related to Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade has been removed." Though the game had been in operation since 2016, it struggled to attract and maintain a strong number of players. According to Steamcharts, the game peaked in 2017 with 5,000 concurrent players but never got close to that number afterwards. In a post on June 10th of this year, the developers announced that they would be ending its run and that players would be unable to play the game starting 3 months from that day.
With all servers being shut down, Behaviour Interactive has ensured that Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade has become a thing of the past. Though part of the universe from the popular tabletop game Warhammer 40,000, the game never managed over 700 concurrent players except for the spike in 2017.
After five years of operation, some players are likely upset by the decision. For some, their investment of money into this game meant hundreds of hours of gameplay but, for others, there was likely less of a return. The last announcement post is proof of the variety of reactions players have had to the news.
At the end of the day, however, there is little players can do but move on from the game. Though Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade was relatively unique in its genre, the Warhammer 40,000 universe is home to a number of different games and there are other options out there. On top of the original tabletop game, there are classic titles such as Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 3 that are still playable and more recent additions to the universe in the works.
Source: Steam, Steamcharts
