SEGA’s epic crossover mobile puzzle game, SEGA Heroes, is shutting down. The company made the surprise announcement earlier today via press release, citing an end to its partnership with US-based studio Demiurge as the reason for the closure.
The game launched in November 2018 and offered players a twist on the familiar gem-based match-three puzzle format. Teams of heroes from a swathe of SEGA’s long-standing history could be combined to face off against a range of opponents, with gem-busting resulting in characters performing various attacks and defence moves.
It was fun for what it was, and Demiurge reportedly planned a whole heap of post-release content for players to enjoy. But, fans had been suspecting something was up over the last few months, as previously-locked characters and items had their microtransactions removed and progression barriers lifted. It seems that their fears have finally turned out to be accurate.
“After five years of fruitful collaboration, SEGA and Demiurge have decided to take different paths,” SEGA’s statement reads. “In a common agreement, Demiurge is to assume full ownership of their studio. Regrettably, that means that we will have to discontinue SEGA Heroes.”
It’s assumed that whatever future plans Demiurge has as a wholly independent studio will require 100% of their focus, meaning that no headcount can be spared to continue work on SEGA’s mobile app.
The timeline of events will now go like this: today (April 16) in-app purchases will be deactivated and a bunch of content will be automatically unlocked.
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Legendary Events
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Dremagen Boss Battles
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Daily Rewards now grant lots of Gems
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All VIP levels granted to all players
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Taiga Saejima is available, completing the Yakuza Set
On May 21, the servers will be deactivated. SEGA Heroes will no longer function. Refunds are being offered for purchases made on or after March 17, so if you’ve fluttered some cash away on the app recently be sure to check out the SEGA Notice and find out how to apply for your money back.
I just went on my app to check. I’m on Android. When I boot the game, it prompts me to update (unavoidable). When I tap the in-game link to the Google Play Store, it switches apps and simply says “Item not found.” with a “Retry” button. No results from clicking that.
So unless it’s just being updated right now and is temporarily off the store, it looks like our time with the game is over. 🙁
It’s a shame, but it happens. Free to play business model can’t bring in enough money sometimes; and the hardcore SEGA fan base is pretty niche at this point.
I enjoyed playing it, was a good little time waster but I pledge to not pay to play if it’s free to play which does make me part of the problem 😅
If you had been playing, check out Marvel Puzzle Quest; similar mechanics but a much more profitable franchise, so likely to be around for a long time (I genuinely think it’s been active for something like 10 years)
Thank you, I was wondering what was going to replace my game.
From what I know, Marvel Puzzle Quest is like SEGA Heroes in many fields – plenty of characters, no real content
What SEGA heroes that is like the greatest mobile SEGA game ever and it being shut down I hope there is a sequel because of this they had the greatest character ever
This title was one of the best match-3 puzzle games. It was the only one that features animated characters, and not just zooming in and out pictures!! A lot of mobile games are suffering, it’s a shame that once these apps are discontinued, we can’t even play them offline. …..greed
This is why mobile games with online requirements suck! Glad I didn’t waste a dollar on this but it still sucks that I lost all the hours spent on it…