Metacore has decided to halt development of the free-to-play village-building game Everdale, returning the project to its original creator, Supercell.

In a blog post, the mobile firm’s CEO Mike Tammenkoski described the move as a “difficult decision,” explaining that the team struggled to find a way to improve the game’s market fit and make it a viable business.

“The team was on a mission to dismantle Everdale: We talked to the players and tried to find ways for the game to have a stronger market fit and become a sustainable business,” Tammenkoski said.

“Unfortunately, we have not been able to find a way to improve the game’s market fit to keep serving Everdale’s audience long-term.

“After much consideration, we have made the difficult choice to discontinue our work on Everdale and return its IP to Supercell. This has been a hard decision for us, especially knowing what a keen player community there was behind Everdale.”

Tammenkoski also noted that although the development of the game provided valuable learning experiences and insights, it did not yield the results the team had initially anticipated.

Metacore took over Supercell’s Everdale at the end of last year, following Supercell’s cessation of development for the multiplayer mobile game in October 2022.