Electronic Arts shuts down development on its MOBA

The runaway, continuing success of League of Legends has developers jumping on board with the MOBA craze to grab their slice of the pie. There’s one less contender on the field, however.

Electronic Arts announced yesterday that Waystone Games is no longer developing the multiplayer online battle arena game Dawngate, owing to feedback received during beta testing.

“This isn’t the outcome we wanted, but beta testing is about learning and improving, and ultimately, about making difficult decisions about how to proceed,” wrote Matt Bromberg, group general manager at Electronic Arts.

Waystone Games was trying to innovate by focusing more heavily on story than other games in the genre. Generally speaking, narrative content isn’t important for MOBAs—almost always the case in games that dominate the esports world. Rules design and balance between characters in particular are what matter most to MOBA players.

The Dawngate beta will continue to run for the next 90 days, however, and within the next 10 days any player purchases will be refunded. Player may contacts Electronic Arts at help.ea.com if they require assistance in processing those refunds.