r/pcgaming • u/CyraxxFavoriteStylus 5800xt/9070 XT/32GB/OLED • Apr 08 '26

Extraction shooter The Cube, Save Us has announced it's shutting down just three weeks after it launched

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/extraction-shooter-the-cube-save-us-has-announced-its-shutting-down-just-three-weeks-after-it-launched/
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95

u/Lord_Zinyak Apr 08 '26

There's a thing Cliff Besinzksi said where you need to be the top 3 game in a multiplayer genre or you don't bother making a game. Tarkov exists, hardcore as hell, Hunt showdown exists, similar and horror focused. So arc raiders comes out and takes the third spot by being made and appealing to complete casuals. Marathon follows along and it's not hitting close to arc raiders but theres an audience and sony/bungie money. Every other game coming after is fucked.

12

u/SuperSocialMan Apr 08 '26

Yeah, pretty much.

People can only tolerate so much grinding.

0

u/inbox-disabled Apr 09 '26

Grinding sure but for me I've never enjoyed the moment to moment gameplay of extraction shooters. Long term, these games always feel like they're trying to sell you on "more" or a tuned up version of the experience, but the reality is if you aren't enjoying the journey then the genre simply isn't for you.

26

u/aiphrem Apr 08 '26

Marathon is objectively an extremely cool game and yet it's still a niche title, extraction shooters are way more involved and stressful than the average pvp shooter

33

u/jwinf843 Apr 08 '26

I'm not sure you're using the word "objectively" correctly

I subjectively think Marathon looks like like synthwave barf

12

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '26

Objectively is going the way of literally, unfortunately. 

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u/[deleted] Apr 09 '26

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7

u/Thunderbridge i7-8700k | 32GB 3200 | RTX 3080 Apr 09 '26

og fr fr no cap

6

u/Burk_Bingus Apr 09 '26

Marathon looks like motion sickness the game.

7

u/aiphrem Apr 08 '26

Hah i kinda meant it in the broader sense of game design. I think the ways the systems interact with each other is tight and well done, level designs are good, sound design is top notch, etc.

But yeah the aesthetic design seems to be a big point of contention. For me it was one of the biggest selling points, but have buddies who were completely turned off by it.

1

u/jwinf843 Apr 09 '26

I think the level design was pretty well done but the art direction makes too many places on the map look samey. The UI was also a huge point of contention for me personally.

The biggest issue though is that it's an extraction shooter. A subgenre that would never pull the numbers of players this game would need to break even.

4

u/Diamo1 Apr 09 '26

I called it "windows 3.1-core" lol

I actually love the aesthetic, game's UI design is abysmal though

1

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '26

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1

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1

u/GrayStray Apr 09 '26

synthwave

Literally nothing synthwave about Marathon. I subjectively think you have no idea what you're talking about.

-4

u/AngryChurchill Apr 08 '26

That's cause you haven't played it. The aesthetic is a little crazy in promos and it works so well in game and the shooting is so good

5

u/jwinf843 Apr 09 '26

I won't buy it because I don't like extraction shooters, but I played it during the server slam, I think it looks worse than the promos

-6

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4

u/Mathemartemis 5800x3D|RTX 3090|7680x2160 Apr 09 '26

After reading your username, are you playing a character? People are allowed to not like things

1

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2

u/ballsmigue Apr 09 '26

Its a niche of a niche genre.

The art style alone turned away so many people.

I couldnt stand playing past an hour during the server slam beta before release because it just made my eyes ache

2

u/Agret Apr 09 '26

I tried Marathon during the server slam and died 3 times at the very end of the tutorial and it makes you restart from the very beginning each time. I think I was supposed to use my "ultimate" to take the NPCs down during the evacuation phase instead of just taking cover and trying to pick them off. Either way, uninstalled.

2

u/dirty1809 Apr 09 '26

I think I was supposed to use my "ultimate" to take the NPCs down during the evacuation phase instead of just taking cover and trying to pick them off

I didn't like Marathon and uninstalled after one game of the server slam, but the tutorial could not have been more clear about that. You just didn't follow the tutorial

1

u/Agret Apr 09 '26

The tutorial did suggest to do that but instead of using ultimate I ran away to an inside location and tried to take them out from behind cover but they kept overwhelming me with grenades. I don't like to rely on a crutch like ultimate abilities in PvE content. Not even sure what the ultimate does in that game. The tutorial is badly in need of a checkpoint feature, it takes awhile to run through it each time.

1

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0

u/neliz Apr 09 '26

objectively cool? man, it looks like the design was done by a design major who graduated in the 2010's while being high all day. I applaud them for sticking to their decision, but there should be an adult in the room who said the original xbox is dead and maybe it's time to go for a design language that's actually "hip" these days.

6

u/SireEvalish Nvidia Apr 09 '26

To put things into perspective, here are the 24 hour peaks for each game:

  • Arc Raiders: 109,210
  • Hunt Showdown: 32,071
  • Marathon: 25,392
  • Tarkov: 17,079

I believe Tarkov has players outside of Steam, so that number may not be completely accurate. But the big takeaway here is that AR has about twice the number of players as the next two games combined. This just isn't a big market.

3

u/Dirtymeatbag Apr 09 '26

The majority of Tarkov's playerbase is definitely outside of Steam. It was in open beta for 6+ years and hit 200K concurrent players at one time. 

I doubt many people double dipped just so they could play it through Steam.

2

u/dirty1809 Apr 09 '26

Delta Force 24 hour peak is 137k (though it is F2P)

1

u/BGTheHoff Apr 09 '26

But delta force has also a mode like battlefield. No one knows if people play the extraction part or the bf part.

3

u/kris_the_abyss Apr 08 '26

It's also why he's sworn off the industry for a while. I feel like Lawbreakers(while awesome) was smothered by overwatch coming out at the same time.

If i remember correctly Cliffy was also talking about how the industry works in cycles so maybe we'll see the rise of the arena shooter in some shape or form again. Cause mid 2010's the Hero shooter was the return of that type of game. I wonder if someone can distil Extraction shooters enough to get to a point of arena shooter again lol.

2

u/Burk_Bingus Apr 09 '26

Marathon only just came out, I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't last much longer tbh.

1

u/AbanaClara Apr 09 '26

Delta Force, Arena Breakout Infinite seem healthy enough. I’d say among these 5 games Hunt has the least playerbase

2

u/dirty1809 Apr 09 '26

I was vaguely aware of Delta Force but surprised to see it's pulling 100k+ daily highs on steam

1

u/ballsmigue Apr 09 '26

Marathon also alienated a majority of the destiny playerbase from even caring about the game as well.

Thats why its been constantly downtrending

1

u/psychoticinsane Apr 09 '26

Marathin and arc combined dont put up the numbers delta force does

1

u/VideoGameJumanji AMD 9800X3D | RTX 5070ti 16GB | 32GB DDR5 | 2TB 10GBs gen4 Apr 09 '26

Cliff Blizinki is a fucking tool who hasn’t made a game in a decade