It was supposed to be the "Planetside 2 of the 40k universe." That was the dream, anyway. If you were following the hype train back in 2013 or 2014, you probably remember the promises. Thousands of players on a single map. A persistent world where Orks, Eldar, Chaos, and Space Marines fought for literal territory. It sounded like the ultimate digital realization of Games Workshop’s grimdark tabletop hobby. But if you look for Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade on Steam today, you’ll find a "Retired" tag and a graveyard of mixed reviews.
The servers went dark on September 10, 2021.
It's a weird story. Honestly, it’s a cautionary tale about "scope creep" and the brutal reality of AA game development. Behaviour Interactive—the studio that eventually struck gold with Dead by Daylight—was the team behind it. They had a massive vision, but the finished product ended up being a lobby-based shooter that felt more like a clunkier version of Space Marine (2011) than a massive online world.
The Vision vs. The Reality of Arkhona
When the project was first announced, Miguel Caron, the original studio head, talked a big game. He spoke about a "Massive Online Role-Playing War." You weren't just playing a match; you were part of a persistent campaign on the planet Arkhona. There were even plans for a procedural "Underworld" where players would fight Tyranids in PvE hives.
People bought in. Hard.
The "Founders Program" raised significant cash from fans who wanted to represent their favorite Chapters or Legions. You’d see players dropping $100 or more just to get a head start or a unique weapon skin. But as development progressed, the "massive" part of the game started to shrink. The engine—Unreal Engine 4 at the time—couldn't handle hundreds of players in one spot without the frame rate turning into a slideshow.
By the time the game hit Early Access, the "persistent world" was gone. In its place was a world map that functioned as a glorified menu. You clicked a territory, you queued for a 30-v-30 or 60-v-60 match, and that was it.
Why the Combat Felt... Off
Combat in Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade was a strange beast. It tried to bridge the gap between a tactical shooter and a third-person brawler. You had a "Rock-Paper-Scissors" melee system: Fast attacks beat Breaks, Breaks beat Shields/Clangs, and Heavy attacks trumped almost everything if you timed them right.
In theory, it was deep. In practice? It was janky.
Lag was the biggest enemy. Because the game relied on precise timing for parries and stuns, even a slight spike in latency meant your Chainsword-wielding Assault Marine was dead before the animation even finished. Players often complained about "vacuum stabs" and weird hit detection that made the Eldar (who were naturally faster and smaller) a nightmare to fight against.
The Factions: A Balancing Nightmare
The game launched with four primary races.
- Space Marines: The poster boys. They were sturdy, versatile, and by far the most populated faction.
- Chaos Space Marines: Basically the same as the loyalists but with cooler spikes and some unique psychic powers like Lash of Submission.
- Eldar (Aeldari): They were fast. Too fast. For a long time, Eldar players dominated the leaderboards because their hitboxes were tiny and their Grav-tanks were essentially indestructible hovering fortresses.
- Orks: The "Green Tide." Orks were intended to be played in massive numbers, but the game's player count rarely supported a true "Waaagh!"
The fifth promised faction, the Tyranids, never became playable. They were relegated to a mediocre PvE mode where players fought waves of AI gaunts and warriors. It felt like a tacked-on horde mode rather than a core part of the ecosystem.
Behaviour Interactive struggled to balance these four wildly different playstyles. If you buffed the Orks' health, they became unkillable sponges. If you nerfed the Eldar’s speed, they died instantly. It was a constant tug-of-war that left most of the community frustrated. Nathan Richardsson, who took over as Senior Producer, often had to be the "bearer of bad news" on weekly livestreams, explaining why certain features were being cut or delayed indefinitely.
The Problem With Being a "Founder"
Early adopters felt burned. There’s no other way to put it.
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They had paid for a persistent world MMO and received a lobby shooter. While the developers did their best to fulfill the cosmetic rewards, the soul of the game they had "founded" was missing. The transition to a Free-to-Play model later in the game's life felt like a last-ditch effort to keep the servers populated. It worked for a few months, but the core issues—repetitive maps, lack of polish, and the absence of a "grand strategy" layer—remained.
Why Do People Still Talk About It?
Despite all the flaws, Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade had moments of pure, unadulterated 40k magic.
There was nothing quite like being part of a Rhino transport rush. Seeing three or four tanks cresting a hill, surrounded by screaming Orks or chanting Chaos Marines, while heavy bolter fire lit up the night... it felt right. The sound design was actually pretty solid. The roar of a Chainsword and the "thump-thump" of a Bolter carried a weight that many other 40k games miss.
The community was also incredibly dedicated. "Sub-factions" like the Space Wolves or the Black Templars formed tight-knit guilds (called Strike Forces). They ran drills, held "lore-accurate" events, and basically did the work of world-building that the game engine couldn't handle.
The Comparison to Space Marine 2
With the release of Space Marine 2 in recent years, many look back at Eternal Crusade and wonder "what if?"
Space Marine 2 succeeded by narrowing the scope. It focused on a tight, polished, cinematic experience with a smaller PvP component. Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade tried to do everything at once and ended up spreading its resources too thin. It’s a classic case of ambition exceeding budget and technology. Behaviour Interactive eventually moved most of their team over to Dead by Daylight, which, ironically, became one of the biggest successes in the industry. Arkhona was left to wither.
The Technical Debt and the Final Shutdown
By 2020, the writing was on the wall. The player base had dwindled to a few hundred die-hards.
Updating the game was a nightmare. The codebase was a "spaghetti" mess of various iterations and abandoned systems. Every time the devs tried to fix a bug with the jump packs, they’d accidentally break the Eldar psychic powers. When the announcement finally came in 2021 that the game would be closing, there was sadness, but not much surprise.
The final day was a weirdly beautiful mess.
Players from all factions stopped fighting. They gathered in the center of the maps, emoted together, and took screenshots. For a brief moment, the Orks and the Ultramarines weren't at each other's throats. Then, the connection timed out.
Moving Forward: How to Scratch the Eternal Crusade Itch
If you’re looking for that specific feeling of massive 40k warfare today, you have to look in a few different places. There isn't a 1:1 replacement, but you can get close.
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2: This is the obvious one. The "Eternal War" PvP mode offers 6v6 combat that is much more polished, even if it lacks the scale of Arkhona.
- Squad (with the Galactic Contention or 40k mods): Believe it or not, the modding community has done incredible things with tactical shooters. There are 40k total conversion mods for games like Squad or Arma 3 that actually capture the "large scale" feel better than the official games.
- Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2: If it was the "Grand Strategy" and territorial map of Eternal Crusade you liked, this game nails the feeling of a sector-wide war, albeit from a naval perspective.
Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade failed because it promised a galaxy and delivered a backyard. But it also proved there is a massive hunger for a high-player-count, visceral 40k experience. It remains a landmark for the franchise—not because it was great, but because it showed exactly how hard it is to capture the "Total War" of the 41st Millennium in a real-time, third-person perspective.
If you’re a fan of the lore, don’t mourn the game too much. Use it as a reminder to be wary of pre-release hype and to appreciate the games that actually manage to stick the landing. Arkhona may be gone, but the lessons learned there are still being felt across the industry.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans
If you still have the itch for massive 40k battles, your best bet is to dive into the Space Marine 2 Operations mode. It offers the best "power fantasy" currently available. For those who want the tactical, "boots on the ground" experience Eternal Crusade promised, keep a close eye on the Warhammer 40,000: Burning Skies fan projects or specialized mods for Arma 3. The spirit of Eternal Crusade lives on in the community, even if the official servers are long gone.
Check the Steam Community Hub for archived screenshots and "Veterans of Arkhona" groups if you're looking to reconnect with old squadmates. Many have migrated to Discord servers where they continue to organize games in other 40k titles.