Side Bullet, a side-scrolling battle royale game that launched just over a month ago, seems to have been delisted from the official PlayStation Store. The game has been shut down as of November 27, according to an official statement by the team at PressA.
Interestingly, the game’s social accounts have been deactivated too, marking the game as done and dusted until the people behind it choose to reveal more information. The game was exclusively launched for the PlayStation and had a couple of trailers on YouTube showcasing gameplay footage.
The Game Has Disappeared From the PlayStation Store
Side Bullet’s official website still holds a link to the game’s PlayStation Store page. However, upon visiting the same page, you’ll be greeted by an error page instead. This is surprising, considering how it came out quite recently. On a more bittersweet note, the game’s Chapter 1 (assuming that’s its version of the game’s first season) still holds a countdown. This is likely the period until the game’s season officially changes.
This is a common live-service model equipped by most battle royale games today, and Side Bullet was no different. Along with its official X/Twitter account, the game’s Discord and Twitch channels have been shut down too.
On its website, the studio has expressed its disappointment regarding the game’s complete shutdown:
Hello, mercenaries.
We are saddened to announce some bad news to you.
We have recently made a hard decision to end of our SIDE BULLET game service due to internal circumstances.
Even if it was a short time, we would like to express our gratitude and apologies to all the mercenaries who have enjoyed our game and showed us a lot of love and support.
In case you’re someone who spent money on in-game items, here’s the link where you can inquire about a refund. The end-of-service date for the game and refund date were scheduled for November 27th (00:00 UTC).
Side Bullet Was Trying to Give the Classic Battle Royale Genre a Side-Scrolling Twist
Side Bullet isn’t PressA’s first rodeo with side-scrolling shooters. Previously, the studio released a game called DEAD CIDE CLUB on Steam. It looks and plays quite similarly to Side Bullet, and has received generally mixed reviews on Steam.
Side Bullet, however, focuses more on the battle royale genre and turns a side-scrolling shooter into an intense multiplayer experience where only the surviving party stands. The action-packed gameplay felt like something you’d experience in games like My Friend Pedro, and the studio marketed the game similarly:
Intense, exciting battles unfold in this side-view battlefield!
Between collecting coins, shooting through monsters, and earning fancy weapons, the game would focus heavily on fast-paced run-n’-gun gameplay that would test reflexes and tactics. It’s a shame to see the game shut down like this, given how much the studio had already worked on the title.
The game’s showcase on its website and YouTube further included different cartels in the game. These characters had their own personalities and traits that would play into the weapons and combat systems the player chose. Moreover, this would diversify the battle and make for a unique playstyle. Some of the cartels and characters include:
- Prisoner – Vedmak
- Soldier – Saraph Scouts
- Agent – Seed
- Gangster – King Juarez
- Psycho – Rocket Cowl
From what it seems, Chapter 1 of the game introduces players to the game’s various mechanics and gameplay systems. Unfortunately, players might never see the game’s true depths, given how quickly the project has shut down. Talk about surviving a battle royale against other PvP games.
At present, there’s no word from the developers about what’s next for the project or anything new they’ll be doing instead. We can only hope to hear more news and the actual reasons behind the game shutting down so quickly.
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