Walking Dead Game Being Shut Down, Franchise On Its Last Legs?
For many fans who were with the series from the beginning, The Walking Dead has been on its last leg for quite some time. And now, according to Game Rant, the franchise is taking another hit as Other Ocean Interactive and Skybound Games have revealed that production on the game The Walking Dead: Betrayal has come to a screeching halt. Not only that, but those who have been playing the game during its early-access drop, will no longer be able to do so as it will be pulled from Steam.
The Walking Dead: Betrayal Shut Down
In The Walking Dead: Betrayal, players were given a multitude of tasks to ensure their survival all while working against time to find a traitor hiding out within their ranks. And then, of course, there are the zombies known as walkers who have their own objective in their minds.
While the game started as a hit for the studios, the fandom simply began to move on to other options, leaving the multiplayer game without enough daily gamers – with the high typically never shooting above 10.
Zombie Fatigue?
While it’s just a game and not one of the shows tied into The Walking Dead universe, all signs point to what may be an oversaturation of subject matter. There are already a handful of other games and interactive media bits centered on the beloved AMC TV series, so one of them going under was bound to happen. At the same time, is it simply that fans are getting over the zombie-based stories of The Walking Dead?
The original production ran for a whopping and impressive 11 seasons, with the finale airing around this time last year. Just a few weeks ago, audiences bid adieu to one of the production’s favorite spin-offs, Fear the Walking Dead, a story that wrapped up following a very successful and fruitful eight-season run. But, while it may seem that the wind has gone out of the franchise’s sails, there are still productions drawing in viewership numbers.
The Walking Dead Spin-Offs Find Success
One thing that the folks behind The Walking Dead are good at is recognizing a fan-favorite character when they see one. And, even better, the creative team gave a handful of these beloved personalities their very own spin-offs, breaking the world of The Walking Dead up into three new sidequests.The first debuted last summer with sworn enemies turned forced allies, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) struggling to survive the mean and walker-filled streets of a post-apocalyptic New York City together. Titled The Walking Dead: Dead City, this was the universe’s debut shot at taking two characters from the original series and pitting them against new terrors. It was such a success that it was quickly picked up for a second season.
The Daryl Dixon Spin-Off
After Dead City, audiences were eager for more where that came from with the network dropping The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon in the early fall. Again, the Norman Reedus-led project picked up with the character in a much different location than where we left him – on the shores of France. There was so much buzz surrounding the title that AMC went ahead and ordered a second season before the first one aired, proving that there’s still some love for The Walking Dead after all.
Up Next: The Ones Who Live
While The Walking Dead’s gaming business may be oversaturated, there’s no denying that audiences are still (at least for now) interested in finding out the next chapters of the most endearing characters. Next up is the Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira-led series, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, which will arrive on screens in February 2024.
