Boss Key stops work on LawBreakers

Boss Key's attempts to grow LawBreakers into a viable online shooter after a disappointing start have been unsuccessful. The studio today announced it is halting development on the game to move onto other projects.

"The fact is LawBreakers failed to find enough of an audience to generate the funds necessary to keep it sustained in the manner we had originally planned for and anticipated," the studio said. "And while a pivot to free-to-play may seem like easiest change to make, a change of this magnitude takes publishing planning and resources to do it.

"The team here has worked hard on this game over the past three and a half years and our studio is determined to give this game the second life it deserves. However, between now and then, we cannot sit idle. We will continue to support the game in its current state, but we also need to focus on other projects with fresh creative leaders. We have been working on something new and we can't wait to share more about it! It's a passion project that we're in complete control of."

Boss Key was formed in 2014 with investment from Nexon, which was set to publish the studio's debut title, described at the time as a free-to-play shooter developed under the codename BlueStreak. Over the course of development, the game scrapped the free-to-play model, became LawBreakers, and launched last August after four years in development. Nexon said the game underperformed its expectations, pinning the blame partly on competition in the genre from PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.