Earlier this year, Ubisoft announced Ghost Recon Commander, a Facebook game meant to appeal to the core gaming audience. Instead of farming, playing scrabble, or participating in some sort of war between Mafiosos, Ghost Recon Commander was going to have hardcore shooter mechanics that you would typically see in a full retail release. It was going to turn Facebook into a real place to game, not just a place to waste time.
The game released seven months ago, and now it’ is being canceled.
According to Ubisoft, the cancellation is due to the fact that the core gamer audience did not approve of the gameplay mechanics. Unfortunately, this means that the entire Ghost Recon Commander team has been laid off.
190,000 monthly users play the game, and will be able to continue to play the game until the end of the year with all monetization removed. However, the game will be shutting down after that.
It looks like Ghost Recon: Commander was not going to be the hardcore Facebook hit Ubisoft thought it was going to be. Still, there is space for hardcore Facebook games out there. Some developer just has to claim it.