BioWare has pulled the plug on multiplayer action-RPG Shadow Realms so its Austin studio can focus on other projects.

“We’ve made the decision to not move forward with development of Shadow Realms," wrote BioWare Austin Jeff Hickman in an update today.

“We fully recognize that this news is disappointing to some of our fans, so I want to explain more behind this decision.

“While the team did amazing work on the game concept and we got lots of great feedback from our fans at events and through other game testing, right now there are other projects for the team to work on within the BioWare studios for the coming year and beyond.”

Those who were working on the game will shift to Dragon Age: Inquisition, the new Mass Effect game, and “other new IP”.

“The biggest focus for our team in BioWare Austin will be on Star Wars: The Old Republic,” wrote Hickman.

“As every Star Wars fan knows, this is a massive year in the Star Wars universe. We have some great plans for expanding this epic game this year, and look forward to sharing the news about those plans with our players in the coming weeks.”

Hickman thanked those that registered for the Shadow Realms closed alpha, and said the studio was working on a way to say thank-you.

“To all those players that gave us feedback at Gamescom and PAX, and those that shared their thoughts and impressions in the past months, we thank you for being part of the conversation,” he wrote.

Last month a rumour circulated that BioWare had reset development on the game and that its business model has switched from free-to-play to premium. Two other anonymous sources claimed it had been outright cancelled.