Ramen VR will permanently close its virtual reality MMO Zenith: Nexus on December 18, 2026, ending access to the game across its supported platforms. The San Francisco-based developer announced the decision on October 21, citing the financial burden of operating the servers at a loss.
The servers will go offline at 10 am Pacific Standard Time on December 18. Once the shutdown takes effect, players will no longer be able to access the live-service game.
Ramen VR also ended sales of the paid Zenith: The Last City downloadable content and its premium Zennies currency on October 21. The free Zenith: Nexus client will remain available to new players until November 18. Existing players can continue playing and use their remaining Zennies until the final closure.
The shutdown affects Steam and other supported platforms, including Meta Quest 2, Quest 3, Rift and PlayStation VR2. Access on the original Quest and PlayStation VR headsets had already ended in November 2024.
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Player Retention Challenges Follow Early Success
Zenith originally launched in January 2022 as Zenith: The Last City, an anime-inspired open-world virtual reality MMO. The game initially gained strong commercial traction, topping Steam's overall sales charts in March 2022 and reaching leading positions on other VR platforms.
Ramen VR reported that hundreds of thousands of players had tried the game. Its early success also helped the studio secure USD 35 million in Series B funding less than two months after launch. However, retaining players proved difficult. The developer later said most users stopped playing within roughly a month, despite years of efforts to improve engagement.
In 2024, Ramen VR reorganized the title under Zenith: Nexus, combining the original MMO with a new free-to-play mode called Zenith: Infinite Realms. The new mode focused on cooperative action and procedurally generated runs. The studio announced an end to new content development in July 2024. Its final major update, Season 4: Golden Isles, arrived the following month. The December shutdown will bring the project to a permanent end after years of operational challenges.