15 'Always Online' Games That You Can't Play Anymore

6. Battleborn

Developed by Gearbox Software, Battleborn was an attempt to tackle the hero shooter genre and very briefly (and I mean, very briefly) went toe-to-toe with Overwatch. Battleborn had an uphill battle from the get-go, with the game releasing not only the same year as Overwatch, but in the same year. By now, we all know how that went. 

Battleborn tried something a little different from Overwatch by incorporating MOBA elements and an in-game levelling-up system. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to fight against Blizzard's massive marketing budget, which very quickly made everybody forget about Battleborn. It's hard to compete with a studio that (at the time) was releasing Pixar-quality character trailers that immediately got you invested in that world. Even if you didn't love the game, I bet you could recognise Reaper, Widowmaker or Soldier: 76. 

Then, the expected happened in 2021. With players dropping below 100, Gearbox shut down the servers on the 31st of January, rendering Battleborn unplayable, while Overwatch, after many stumbles, continues to go strong.