When Velan Studios took to social media to alert players that its PvP dodgeball game, Knockout City (KOC), would be closing forever in June, it genuinely ruined my night.

In January alone, we saw the teams behind last fall's brawler-royale Rumbleverse, Apex Legends Mobile, Ubisoft's Hyper Scape, and even Marvel's Avengers announce closures that each feel premature when compared to their original visions.

Other high-profile shutdowns in recent years include EA's intended Destiny killer Anthem, ahead-of-its-time co-op shooter Evolve, and what I'd argue is Harmonix's best music game in an illustrious catalog, Fuser.

Again, I'm sadly without answers to these economic problems, and I come here only to lament the feeling that one of my favorite games (Fortnite) is indirectly and partly responsible for the closure of another (Knockout City).

Were Knockout City's goals too lofty, or is the live-service world just not sustainable for most who enter it?Epic's battle royale has defined the live-service world for over half a decade, and it seems as though many other publishers are unable to predict how large of an audience they will be able to retain or make plans to sustain a game at those levels.

For there to be a way forward, game makers must be able to reliably predict the size and habits of its fanbase, and then pivot when that base expands or shrinks.