Warcraft Rumble Enters Maintenance Mode After Huge Microsoft Layoffs

Activision Blizzard’s Clash Royale-esque game, Warcraft Rumble, has entered maintenance mode. This means that the game will not receive new content but will still be updated to fix bugs and introduce “regular, systemic in-game events.”

In a press release, the developers revealed that the game just didn’t perform the way they had expected. Blizzard mentioned that the game “struggled to find its footing” and that while they listened to player feedback, it was not enough to “put the game on a path to sustainability.”

Warcraft Rumble is Blizzard’s recent addition to its growing portfolio of games set in maintenance mode. A few years ago, the developers announced that Heroes of the Storm wouldn’t receive new content anymore. StarCraft 2 is also essentially in maintenance mode due to it not receiving new content.

This news about stopping Warcraft Rumble’s development came right after Microsoft had conducted massive layoffs, which have been estimated to have affected around 9,100 employees. With it, games such as a Perfect Dark reboot, Everwild and other unannounced projects have been axed as well.

Activision Blizzard was also affected by the layoffs. Aftermath reported that the marketing and customer service departments of the studio were affected and that the number of fired employees could be as high as 100. The outlet also claimed that Overwatch developers are safe this time around.

Warcraft Rumble was released on Nov. 3, 2023, for PC, iOS and Android. The game is pretty similar to Clash Royale, where players fight against each other using troops they drop on the battlefield to try and defeat the enemy leader.