What The Hell Happened To Grapeshot Games' Atlas?

Online survival games and MMOs are a dime a dozen these days, so you would assume that if somebody were to try to break into that space they would have something pretty special up their sleeves, right? Well, that was the original aim with Grapeshot Games’ Atlas, a massively multiplayer action RPG that has been in early access since 2018.

Going on for two and a half years now, it’s a game that promises to be an all-encompassing survival pirate game, where resources must be gathered, bases and boats built, and strenuous voyages traveled. It’s also a game that chooses to float its entire boat on the waves of its player base, and let them ultimately decide if it sinks or swims.

It’s a reasonable premise that seemed perhaps a bit too good to be true, but early footage of the game was looking promising and the developers were seemingly chugging along with their milestones. So what exactly happened? Why would a game that generated as much interest as this one did, and fill a void that so desperately needs filled become the husk of a game that it is today, with almost nobody online and seemingly being left dead in the water by its team? What the hell happened to Grapeshot Game’s Atlas?