Blaseball, an Absurdist Cult Favorite, Is Officially Ending

Blaseball, the horror fantasy baseball game that gained a cult following, is officially ending after a turbulent hiatus.

Today, in a post on Medium, Blaseball makers The Game Band announced that Blaseball is not going ahead with the Coronation Era, its current iteration, as planned and is instead ending permanently. The Game Band, which also faced layoffs, attributed Blaseball’s ending to a lack of financial sustainability.

“We are making the decision to end it here instead of changing Blaseball into something unrecognizable,” the post reads. “Part of this loss is many of our incredible team members. Our team size has to change to give us enough runway to even begin to make something new. We are losing so many good people, and we will miss them terribly. They changed the game, literally.”

We are devastated to announce we are ending Blaseball and saying goodbye to some incredible team members.

Our full post here:https://t.co/8ZagEGwiW4

— The Game Band (@thegameband) June 2, 2023

In the post, The Game Band pledged to support employees affected by layoffs and discussed Blaseball’s impact. Released during the height of the pandemic in July 2020, it gained a loyal following and inspired quite a few fanmade works of art.

“To Fans of Blaseball, who have cheered and cried with us, who watched Suns die and Eras pass, who have defied the Gods and death itself, who have been with us through the end of the world as we knew it and then what came after: thank you,” the post continues. “It has been one of the great joys of our lives to make Blaseball for you, and we will grieve its loss like everything else — together.”

Blaseball initially went on hiatus in 2021 after its lore quickly expanded, which culminated in a black hole swallowing every player to give the game a clean slate. The game returned in January 2023, though it quickly went on another hiatus less than a month later after its new format received mixed feedback. Blaseball was slated to return in the spring.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they’ve contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.