Disney saves you from wasting cash by shuttering Star Wars: Rivals

The free-to-play video games business model gets a lot of criticism from both the gaming press as well as tech press like here at Android Authority. However, the system clearly works as games like Fortnite and Clash of Clans continue to rake in millions of dollars from their huge pools of players.

But it seems that one game didn’t quite make the cut, and that’s Disney’s Star Wars: Rivals — a free-to-play action shooter game that didn’t even make it to a stable release before getting the axe (or, in this case, lightsaber).

As of today, the game is no longer available on the Google Play Store. According to a very brief statement from Disney, those of you who already have the game installed on your devices can continue to play it until October 11, 2018. After that point, the game will be unplayable.

There will be no refunds for your in-app purchases.

Star Wars: Rivals was announced at the very beginning of 2018, and received a beta release in July. Initial reactions to the game were pretty negative, with its boring gameplay and ridiculous emphasis on in-app purchases pointed out as its biggest flaws.

Some of the in-app purchases were as expensive as $99.

When you think about it, how bad does an officially-licensed Star Wars game have to be for it to not be successful? Oh wait, EA can probably answer that for us.

Meanwhile, you can pay a flat fee of $10 to play the greatest Star Wars game ever made on your smartphone right now: Star Wars: Knights of the New Republic. Click below to play.