Earlier this year Xaviant debuted its first-person "Battle Royale" style game, The Culling, on Xbox One consoles via Xbox Game Preview. Following its growth on PC, the team expanded the experience to console, with an early access release while still in development. Back in October, the game saw formal debut across Xbox One and PC, expanding its available content.
In a blog post, the game's developer, Xaviant, has announced that development on The Culling has ended, confirming no further updates will be distributed. The now 20-man studio has shifted over a new title, though details on the next project are yet to be shared. While no new content will be implemented going forward, as an online-centric game, The Culling's servers will remain online "for the foreseeable future."
With only two months since its formal release, the move is quick, though given recent growth of the battle royale genre, comes as little of a surprise. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Epic Games' Fornite Battle Royale dominate the genre, assumedly capturing the following The Culling once had.
With this announcement, it's safe to assume that the previously announced Windows 10 release is no longer on the roadmap, which promised to deliver support for Microsoft's "Play Anywhere" initiative.
For those looking to jump into The Culling while it's still live, the game is available for $24.99 via the Microsoft Store for Xbox One. While a unique take on the genre, we criticized the game for its glitches and poor performance in our review, awarding the game three out of five stars.
