Epic Games is closing Paragon and offering refunds

Epic Games‘ MOBA project, Paragon, is ending as the studio focuses on Fortnite. Paragon will shut down on April 26. Epic Games is offering refunds for all purchases from both platforms, PlayStation 4 and PC.

Paragon launched in Early Access in March 2016, with an open beta starting in February 2017. The multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game was similar to hits in the genre like Dota 2 and League of Legends. But Paragon had a third-person perspective, similar to Smite. Unlike Smite, Paragon prided itself on top-of-the-line graphics.

But Paragon was too late to the MOBA party. Dota 2 and League of Legends have been established as the stars of the genre for years, and it doesn’t seem like there’s room at the top for anything else.

However, Epic Games was much quicker in capitalizing with the battle royale market made popular by PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Fortnite: Battle Royale has reached over 45 million players. Like Paragon, it is a free-to-play game, but it has been much more successful. Epic Games noted earlier in the month that they were moving some Paragon staff to Fortnite while they tried to figure out the former’s future. It looks like oblivion is its future.

“We didn’t execute well enough to deliver on the promise of Paragon,” The Paragon team noted on the blog post. “We have failed you — despite the team’s incredibly hard work — and we’re sorry.”

Epic Games is being hard on itself. The gaming industry offers no guarantees, especially when you’re chasing trends. But whatever the reason for Paragon’s failure, the refunds will help make it right for its fans who invested money in the MOBA.