Oh, how the mighty have fallen. It was only a couple of years ago that the anime and fighting game communities were in unison in hoping that Jump Force would be the love letter to Shōnen Jump they wanted. The anime fighting game to end all anime fighting games! Well, the game came out and was considered a massive disappointment to fans of both communities. If you were waiting to try out the fighting game to see for yourself what it was like, you might want to move quickly.
Bandai Namco has announced that Jump Force will shut down services in February 2022. The game and its DLC will no longer be available for digital purchase starting February 8th. The full quote is below:
Everyone at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment would like to offer our sincere thanks to all Jump Force players and fans for their years of support. Today, we are announcing the end of Jump Force’s availability through digital purchase in the Americas. Jump Force will cease to be available for base game, DLCs and virtual currency purchase on 2/7/2022 at 5:00pm PST for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
Additionally, some of the Jump Force online service servers will be sunsetting on 8/24/2022; however, all single player functions will continue to be playable locally on your home console or PC, as well as PVP battle, except the Ranked Match mode..
Via Bandai Namco
Run fast if you still want to play
De-listing and shutting down ranked online is a kiss of death for any modern game. Jump Force will be no different. The game has had an uphill battle with fans since the beginning for a multitude of reasons. An awkward art design that tried to make our favorite heroes more realistic was the start of it. Then it snowballed after release with complaints about the roster (or lack thereof) and generic arena fighting style gameplay that did nothing new for the genre.
I could go on but suffice to say Jump Force is considered by many to be a massive letdown. And this move to remove it seems to be Bandai Namco finally throwing in the towel. Maybe next time they’ll give us a 2D fighting crossover instead? I know Arc System Works tends to be good at those!
Via Bandai Namco
