Eldegarde Shutting Down on March 31

Drama

05 March 2026 09:17

TL;DR

Notorious Studios has announced that Eldegarde, its fantasy extraction game, will go offline permanently on March 31st, just months after graduating from early access to version 1.0 in January 2026.
Studio founder and CEO Chris Kaleiki confirmed the shutdown in the game's Discord, writing that after "much reflection" the team made "the difficult decision to sunset Eldegarde," with the game also being removed from Steam permanently on the same date.

Eldegarde is over. Notorious Studios announced the fantasy extraction game will shut down permanently on March 31st, pulled from Steam and taken offline for good. The game only reached version 1.0 in January, making this a brutal turnaround for a studio that had just cleared what should have been one of its biggest milestones.

Chris Kaleiki, the studio's founder and CEO and a former Blizzard veteran, delivered the news directly to the community in the game's Discord server. His message was honest and clearly written by someone who cared deeply about what the team built: "After much reflection, we have made the difficult decision to sunset Eldegarde (a fancy gamedev term to basically mean shutting down). The game will be coming offline March 31st."

He continued: "I have a ton of thoughts and reflections behind the decision to do this, which I've put into the post I hope you'll read on Steam, but above all I wanted to express my gratitude for this community and for our players playing our game. Even though it is unfortunate and sad, I want to celebrate the life the game did have this past year, with the four seasons of content, 28 MTDs we did with you, and, of course, the memories and experiences we created together in the game." There is talk of an offline version potentially surfacing at some point, but Kaleiki framed that as uncertain at best.

What Eldegarde Was

Eldegarde started life under a different name entirely. It was originally called Legacy: Steel and Sorcery before Notorious Studios rebranded and pivoted the game last year, a decision that reset some of its existing momentum but gave the title a clearer identity heading into 1.0.

The game sat in an interesting space. Describing it to someone who never played it, the closest shorthand is Fable mixed with ARC Raiders with touches of World of Warcraft woven through it. The fantasy aesthetic, the MMO-influenced visual language, and the extraction core created something genuinely different from the military-realistic tones that dominate the genre. For players who wanted the tension and risk of extraction gameplay without the oppressive tactical realism of Escape from Tarkov or the sci-fi coldness of ARC Raiders, Eldegarde offered something warmer and more welcoming.

More:G2 Esports Enters Teamfight Tactics With Four-Player Roster of Established European Talent

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Eldegarde Shutting Down on March 31

Drama

05 March 2026 09:17

Tags: Eldegarde

TL;DR

Notorious Studios has announced that Eldegarde, its fantasy extraction game, will go offline permanently on March 31st, just months after graduating from early access to version 1.0 in January 2026.
Studio founder and CEO Chris Kaleiki confirmed the shutdown in the game's Discord, writing that after "much reflection" the team made "the difficult decision to sunset Eldegarde," with the game also being removed from Steam permanently on the same date.

Eldegarde is over. Notorious Studios announced the fantasy extraction game will shut down permanently on March 31st, pulled from Steam and taken offline for good. The game only reached version 1.0 in January, making this a brutal turnaround for a studio that had just cleared what should have been one of its biggest milestones.

Chris Kaleiki, the studio's founder and CEO and a former Blizzard veteran, delivered the news directly to the community in the game's Discord server. His message was honest and clearly written by someone who cared deeply about what the team built: "After much reflection, we have made the difficult decision to sunset Eldegarde (a fancy gamedev term to basically mean shutting down). The game will be coming offline March 31st."

He continued: "I have a ton of thoughts and reflections behind the decision to do this, which I've put into the post I hope you'll read on Steam, but above all I wanted to express my gratitude for this community and for our players playing our game. Even though it is unfortunate and sad, I want to celebrate the life the game did have this past year, with the four seasons of content, 28 MTDs we did with you, and, of course, the memories and experiences we created together in the game." There is talk of an offline version potentially surfacing at some point, but Kaleiki framed that as uncertain at best.

What Eldegarde Was

Eldegarde started life under a different name entirely. It was originally called Legacy: Steel and Sorcery before Notorious Studios rebranded and pivoted the game last year, a decision that reset some of its existing momentum but gave the title a clearer identity heading into 1.0.

The game sat in an interesting space. Describing it to someone who never played it, the closest shorthand is Fable mixed with ARC Raiders with touches of World of Warcraft woven through it. The fantasy aesthetic, the MMO-influenced visual language, and the extraction core created something genuinely different from the military-realistic tones that dominate the genre. For players who wanted the tension and risk of extraction gameplay without the oppressive tactical realism of Escape from Tarkov or the sci-fi coldness of ARC Raiders, Eldegarde offered something warmer and more welcoming.

More:G2 Esports Enters Teamfight Tactics With Four-Player Roster of Established European Talent

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