An Xbox game from 2017 has shut down forever with no official warning to players, even if the writing was on the wall. What’s worse, even, is that it is not one of the many multiplayer game shutdowns that happen periodically (which is still rough). The game in question is a single-player digital-only Planet of the Apes Xbox game, meaning there is no physical way to obtain and play the game.
Unfortunately, it’s certainly not the first nor will it be the last. Recently, the console version of Battlefield: Hardline had its servers shut down, Madden NFL 23 is having something similar happen in July, and even Bethesda is shutting down games (Elder Scrolls: Blades, to be specific). This has always been a possibility, but it has increasingly felt more like a bloodbath than a rare occurrence.
EA Game is Permanently Shutting Down Later This Year
Yet another EA game is confirmed to be shutting down its servers permanently later this year, so fans should plan accordingly.
Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier Shuts Down on Xbox
Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier is a Telltale-style narrative adventure game, released back in 2017 for Xbox One, and it takes place a year after Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. It featured a unique rogue group of apes and a group of human survivors as they compete for resources, and it received mixed/average reviews (59 on Metacritic) on release due to gameplay and technical issues. Either way, it has now been delisted from the Microsoft Store, and because it was a digital-only release, there is no physical disc or purchase that can be made to play it. Those who already own it can still play it, but that’s an extreme limitation (and only possible because it’s a single-player game on Xbox).
Scratch & Peek
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as
possible.
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as possible.
EasyMediumHardPermadeath
Limited Run did a physical version for PlayStation, but not Xbox.
While this was not announced (as all game shutdowns arguably should be), the writing was on the wall. The PlayStation Store version of this game was delisted in May, following the shutdown of the Steam version in April. Many Disney games were delisted and removed from Steam in April, with Brave, Disney Universe, Disney Bolt, and Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier being among them and having received Xbox versions.
FoxNext, part of Fox, was involved in the publishing of Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier, and as fans know, Disney acquired Fox in 2019. In other words, it appears to be a Disney decision more than anything else. It’s worth mentioning that Brave, Disney Universe, and Disney Bolt all remain available on the Microsoft Store, but that doesn’t seem to give these games much time at all.
Overall, it seems the Microsoft Store was the last holdout for Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier. It had been removed from PlayStation and Steam prior, so this means it cannot be purchased on any platform whatsoever. And while this may not be the best game of its generation, the fact remains that some folks will never even get a chance to play it. TellTale-style games have suffered in recent years, but perhaps games like Dispatch and The Wolf Among Us 2 can correct the ship moving forward.
Source: True Achievements
