i think those games didnt have the vast support from fans like ACI
Beside,they still need ACI to fund AC7 right?
Just like how ACI funded AC7, Tekken Revolution funded T7, which is coming to arcades in less than a week which also means that Revolution should be shut down soon after. So the same can apply to ACI, which should shut down shortly after AC7's release (whenever that is).
Soulcalibur Lost Swords shut down because of the reasons any free-to-play game ends - lack of funding and support by players. It was a badly-monetized game.
Infinity is a really great free-to-play game. Kono said in an interview for AC7 that Infinity will continue to receive development as long as the fans demand it. The fact that you can find any number of rooms at any time is a strong indicator of the game continuing to be successful. AC7 will not kill Infinity, not directly at least.
While it can be understandable that AC7 itself will not kill ACI, I actually think about one of the determining factor of ACI's lifespan : console generation.
What will happen to ACI when we come to the generation of PS5 or anything similar about a decade later ?
I assume that far into the future everyone might've got their hands on PS4 and enjoy AC7 considering the possibility of the price of PS4 might have decreased significantly during the dawn of newer generations of video game consoles.
Soul Calibur was terminated because it was everything a Free-To-Play should NOT have.
So fare ACI is receiving a lot of new contents, and I see no immediate plan to terminate this game. What will happen when AC7 comes out, it's a different matter: the game may not be appreciated and people could stick with ACI...
Well, obviously if we get to the PlayStation 5, Infinity will no longer exist. It's a free-to-play game, it WILL die one day. But I talk to a number of people in this community who still don't have a next-gen console, and may not for quite some time, and are still enjoying their PlayStation 3 and the games it offers, including Infinity. I'm starting to think it may survive into 2017. Content updates may end this year as more Project Aces staff get moved to AC7, but I don't see the content updates ending until at least the 2nd anniversary.
tl;dr We've got a while to go. Keep your seat belts in, guys, this ride ain't over.
Gundam Battle Operation, of which a number of Infinity's features are based on (the fuel, research tree, parts, and the lobby layout etc), is still active since June 2012, and it now has a sequel in the form of Gundam Battle Operation Next.
The Gundam franchise has countless number of games, and it's definitely not just because of Battle Operation. So even though it feels like that Infinity's existence is to fund future games or go bust (though it would have an influence of some sort IMHO), I think Infinity and 7 are still parallel in development.