The hero shooter genre isn’t losing any ground even if numerous servers shut some games down for good. It’s not much of a surprise seeing as the incredibly popular titles likeOverwatch,Apexand Valorant dominate the landscape.
8 Best Hero Shooters You Can Play Today
From big-name blockbusters to underrated gems, these hero shooters deliver adrenaline-pumping action, fun hero rosters, and endless replayability.
But it wouldn’t be fair to put the blame solely on popular titles. Some smaller or otherwise newer hero shooters never stood a chance whether it’s because of poor design or simple boredom. These dead-in-the-water hero shooters are prime examples of how the genre doesn’t always strike gold.
Server Shutdown: September 2024
Yes, let’s get this one out of the way.Concordflatlined before it ever really got a chance. It had aliens, guns and the perfect match of features to succeed as Sony’s answer to bigger hero shooter titles. But with its poor initial sales and less-than-stellar reviews, Sony shut it all down after a brief run.
Such a reaction is a shame since the showSecret Levelproved just how interesting the lore within Concord could be if given room to expand. It’s a further disappointment that none of that was found in the game itself, which came across as more empty than anything. Who knows what could have happened if the game had been given the room to adapt, grow and find its audience?
Server Shutdown: October/November 2020
Crucible was Amazon dipping its toes into game development and it just didn’t work. It blended quite a few elements that seemed cherry-picked to make it a standard hero shooter, but being standard may be one of the major issues. Not much stood out to make Crucible into a memorable title to gain and keep an audience.
Sure, it had the unique feature of lacking any type of tank or healer characters. It was kind of fun to have to search for healing items rather than rely on a specific teammate, but that’s where any excitement fizzled out. Amazon aimed high with this one, but they didn’t stick the landing as we’re left with something a tad forgettable compared to everything else out there.
6Rocket Arena
Server Shutdown: March 2024
Rocket Arena
Rocket Arena launched with cross-platform compatibility, opening it up to more gamers, and even that wasn’t enough to keep it alive. A 3v3 hero shooter, it came with ten maps,ten characters all sporting unique abilitiesand various game modes. As the title implies, your initial weapon is a rocket launcher, but you can get other items during the match. Who doesn’t like shooting rockets all the time? Yet it still died.
One issue for some players was the paywall seeing as the major hero shooters are free-to-play, but the F2P model doesn’t guarantee success. The game also saw complaints about poor or unbalanced matchmaking whether in PvP or against AI. The fate of Rocket Arena can boil down to people simply wanting to play something else.
5Lemnis Gate
Server Shutdown: July 2023
Lemnis Gate
Out of the hero shooters we can’t play anymore, Lemnis Gate took a distinct approach with its time loop mechanic. If you strategize correctly, you’re able to aid a teammate in something they’ve yet to do in the game. It was different from your usual run-and-gun style of playing and yet it still landed in the same graveyard as others.
Lemnis Gate had a solid start first launching onXbox Game Passbefore branching out, but even with the unique approach, it didn’tlookdifferent. There was a generic style to the characters that allowed them to blend too well into the background. The genre is heavy enough that some players simply need a lot more to keep their attention.
4Second Wave
Server Shutdown: June 2024
Second Wave had everything needed to leave its mark on the hero shooter landscape. It had clean and vibrant anime character designs, while the combat was straightforward but fun, and included three enjoyable game modes. It just never left Early Access and didn’t survive long enough to gain an audience.
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Compared to other failed hero shooters, Second Wave lost its chance due mainly to outside forces rather than direct problems with the game. Yes, some expensive micro-transactions turned people away, but the game lost its footing when the entirestudio shut down.
3Battleborn
Server Shutdown: January 2021
Battleborn
Battlebornhas to be one of the most unlucky hero shooters as it was released around the same time as Overwatch. And we all know which game came out on top. If you ever had the chance to jump into Battleborn, you’d know just how different it was, though. The marketing didn’t portray it that way, however, which seemed to contribute to it not doing so well.
But poor marketing isn’t the only problem that plagued Battleborn. It had diverse characters, but you couldn’t access them all. Also, it had more MOBA elements than anything else, which could easily turn away people who expected a straight-up hero shooter.
If you never got the chance to experience Battleborn, you can always check out theReborn modcreated by some dedicated fans trying to give the game a revival.
Server Shutdown: 2022
09 August 2025
Skydance Interactive
Bearing a title from a classic gamer term (that’s arguably outdated at this point), PWND was a fun experience. It was fast-paced, a bit silly in a good way, and offered clean gunplay. Even the art style was appealing. It never grabbed the fans it needed, though. Getting into a match took some time simply because the players weren’t there.
There’s no real word onwhyit all failed to the point of shutting down. The game remained available for purchase for a while after the servers dropped for unknown reasons, but as of February 2025, it’s officially dead. Maybe the gimmick from the title got old? Or maybe it’s one of those lost titles that will remain a mystery.
1LawBreakers
Server Shutdown: September 2018
Lawbreakers
LawBreakersis yet another title where a mixture of features and marketing failed. The hero shooter was designed with hardcore gamers in mind rather than the casual player, which alienated a portion of the potential fanbase. It had a nice idea (if not unoriginal) of pitting two teams of five players against each other, and the gunfights were fast and enjoyable if you could learn it, but it wasn’t different enough to stand out.
Additionally, it started as a paid title, eventually going F2P on PC, but it lacked the finesse and quality of the more popular free-to-play hero shooters. Perhaps with better characters and a more memorable design (and better marketing), the game could have survived.
