In a letter to its community, developer Behaviour Digital announced that development would cease on its newest game, Deathgarden: BLOODHARVEST. The game’s servers will be up for the remainder of the year so that fans can make a few more memories. Alongside the announcement, Behaviour Digital has also made the game free on Steam to boost matchmaking viability until closure. In addition, the developers will host one final livestream for the game on December 12 where fans can come play and chat.
Deathgarden: BLOODHARVEST is yet another asymmetric cat-and-mouse game, minus the horror angle. Five agile Runners use their speed and abilities to slow down the heavily armed Hunter while completing objectives. Hunters play in first-person, using a myriad of weapons to shoot down Runners. Runners, on the other hand, play in third-person with enhanced movement and stun abilities.
A hunter locks in on its prey.
The future of asymmetrical multiplayer
The release of Deathgarden in the summer of 2018 was relatively quiet. Interested parties were playing, but not many were sticking around — after all, there were other asymmetric multiplayer games out there. The game got its second wind following a new update in 2019, birthing Deathgarden: BLOODHARVEST. But just as before, the player count plummeted not long after launch. A free weekend on Steam injected some life back into the community, but that too failed to rejuvenate the struggling game.
Behaviour Digital is better known for its previous game, Dead by Daylight, an asymmetric multiplayer game that pits four survivors against one killer. The developer recently put out a new trailer for the game’s Cursed Legacy update. But while that game continues to thrive, there appears to be little room left for their newest endeavor to spread its roots. Deathgarden had plenty to differentiate itself from its contemporaries, but it just couldn’t manage to hold on to more players. The performance of Deathgarden raises questions regarding the viability of what was a booming trend in gaming.
Anyone interested can try the game out for free until servers go down at the end of this year.
