Key Takeaways
1. Gran Saga will shut down on April 30, 2025, after only four months of operation due to difficulties in providing stable service.
2. The game was in development for four years with a budget of around $25 million and launched on November 8, 2024.
3. Key features included cinematic production quality, cross-play, complete voice acting, and a soundtrack by Yoko Shimomura, but these did not attract a solid player base.
4. Major player experience issues included automated gameplay, poor game balance, slow progression, costly microtransactions, and technical glitches.
5. The game’s player base declined significantly, peaking at 547 concurrent players and dropping to under 200 by February, highlighting its lack of popularity compared to competitors like Final Fantasy XIV.
The ambitious anime MMORPG Gran Saga is set to close its doors after only four months of operation. NPIXEL, the developer, has made it clear that the servers will shut down on April 30, 2025. They pointed to “difficulties in providing a continuous and stable service for users” as the main reason behind this decision. For many gamers, this announcement was not unexpected.
Development and Launch
Gran Saga was in development for four years and had a budget of around $25 million. It launched worldwide on November 8, 2024, for both PC and mobile platforms. The game was known for its cinematic production quality, cross-play capabilities, and complete voice acting. It garnered praise for its soundtrack composed by Yoko Shimomura and its art style that drew inspiration from Final Fantasy. Nevertheless, despite these appealing features, Gran Saga failed to build a solid player community due to several issues.
Player Experience Issues
One of the significant factors contributing to Gran Saga’s lukewarm reception was its automated gameplay, which minimized opportunities for genuine player interaction. Additionally, many players expressed frustration over the poor balancing of the game—story bosses were too powerful, and progression slowed considerably around level 50. Moreover, the presence of costly microtransactions and various technical glitches pushed players further away. According to SteamDB, the game only reached a peak of 547 concurrent players shortly after its release, with numbers declining consistently. By February, Gran Saga found it hard to maintain even 200 players, a concerning statistic for an MMORPG. In contrast, Final Fantasy XIV consistently boasts over 15,000 concurrent players on Steam. Given the dwindling player base, the developers faced little choice but to close the game prematurely.
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