Category: Defunct

No one lives forever, not just the name of a Bond film. Here on MMF, rule numero uno is that all MMOs, like any living entity, will one day die. The only question is when.

SaveCOH Responds to NCSoft


Last week NCSoft published a press release to try and quiet the growing masses of angry City of Heroes players. Breaking their previous silence, NCSoft took to the stage to explain that attempts were made to sell the City of Heroes game, but we’re unsuccessful. And as you can see by the comments on our coverage alone, the community is having difficulty swallowing what NCSoft is trying to feed them.

In a press release by SaveCOH, the community presents several questions that they would like answered by NCSoft, including just what counts as “exhaustive efforts” in selling the game, and why potential buyers are reporting no response to their offers.

What attempts were made to sell the IP address, and how they were exhausted.
• Why a number of potential investors who came forward to try and buy the rights, did not receive a response of any kind from NC Soft.
• How NC exhausted all the option, given that the game is not due for closure until November 30, and the fact that there have only been only 32 business days since the announcement of the ‘sunset’ of the game.
• Why NC Soft did not consider combining servers, putting the game in maintenance mode and keeping it running without further developments or updates, or allowing people to create their own, private servers.
• They are calling on campaigners are also calling on NC Soft to publically name a price that they would be willing to accept for either Paragon Studios, or City of Heroes itself.
• And they want to know why a game that was running ‘well in the black’ and had seen an increase in players in the months leading up to the announcement is being closed down, while games such as Guild Wars which are running at a loss, are being kept alive.
• And why NC Soft failed to respond to an invitation from players to play the game with them, or a letter from best-selling author Mercedes Lackey to endorse NC Soft products, free of charge, for a period of five to ten years, for free, if they would be willing to work with players to keep the servers online.

Hopefully we will have more details in the near future. You can find the SaveCOH movement at http://www.cohtitan.com.

(Source: Press Release)

NCSoft Tried Selling City Of Heroes, No Buyers


It’s been over a month since NCSoft announced that City of Heroes would be shutting down, and since then the community has thrown virtually every theory out there as to why there hasn’t been any news from the talks with Paragon Studios.  The question that lays on everyone’s mind is: If NCSoft isn’t willing to keep the game running, why didn’t they try selling the studio/game? As it turns out, they did try. In an announcement on the City of Heroes website, NCSoft offers a small bit of detail on what went down.

We’ve exhausted all options including the selling of the studio and the rights to the City of Heroes intellectual property, but in the end, efforts to do so were not successful. City of Heroes has a special place in all of our hearts, and we want to ensure its reputation and the memories we share for the game end on a high note.

So there is some kind of reassurance that NCSoft at least made an attempt to save City of Heroes. It may not be the answer that they want to hear, but it is an answer nonetheless.

(Source: City of Heroes)

Phantasy Star Universe Sunsets


For Western players, the Phantasy Star Universe has already been over. Originally launched in 2006, Sega first began the MMO’s eventual closure by shutting down the North American and European servers on the PC and Playstation 2 in March 2010. Following, PS2 support in Japan was discontinued in April 2011, and just this month we saw the closure of the Xbox360 servers. Well, yesterday the game has finally come to a close with the closure of Japan’s remaining Phantasy Star Universe servers.

Any remaining Guardian Cash for players will be refunded as Phantasy Star Online 2 credit or as Webmoney AC. The shut down was originally announced at the end of July, and for the last month of service, players were granted access to PSU’s premium course for free.

Black Prophecy Shutting Down In September


I find myself asking this question a lot: Why does everything I love die? Black Prophecy is easily one of Gamigo’s most impressive looking titles, not to mention a unique player in its own right. Launched last year, Black Prophecy is a sci-fi MMO similar to Eve Online but with a more action-oriented control scheme and a more traditional MMO quest system. It wasn’t perfect, but for many players left on their own after the cancellation of Jumpgate Evolution, it was something to call home.

Unfortunately, times have not been so great to the game or its developer. Back in February, we mentioned that Reakktor Media was insolvent and regardless of the quality of Black Prophecy, it wasn’t bringing in enough money to keep afloat. So it comes as terrible news that Black Prophecy will shut down on September 26th. Players will no longer be able to buy cash shop funds starting today.

(Source: Announcement)

Star Trek: Infinite Space Cancelled, No Publisher Found


Star Trek: Infinite Space was announced a couple of years back by Gameforge as a browser-based free to play title. Set in the Deep Space Nine sector of the Star Trek universe, Infinite Space had the consultation powers of Denise and Michael Okuda to make sure that the game stayed true to the series. Unfortunately, times have not been great for the German developer, as last year the company was hit with layoffs that saw 100 staff cut and the cancellation of Mythos and Hellbreed. No longer able to publish the game themselves, Gameforge paused the beta in an attempt to find a co-publisher.

Well it seems that the endeavor has not been met with success, and Games Industry has reported that the project has been cancelled.

“”Unfortunately, our efforts were not successful. So we have decided with a heavy heart to finally abandon the project Star Trek: Infinite Space. The discontinuation is very regrettable. “

(Source: Gamesindustry.biz)

Craft of Gods Disappeared: No Idea Where It Went


Craft of Gods is gone. Dead. Kaput. Gamestop’s Impulse Driven digital distributor is still selling the software, but the website is offline, the servers are apparently not working, and Kalicanthus Entertainment’s website is gone with a shutdown notice. The Craft of Gods Twitter account has not been updated since December 20th, and the Craft of Gods Facebook page has users complaining that the service has been offline and keys nonredeemable since March.

I have reached out to Gamestop to see if the title will be pulled, but as of this publishing the game is still for sale even though there is nowhere to redeem the keys and the game is apparently unplayable as the servers are offline and the game has been abandoned.

Until then, I recommend that you do not purchase Craft of Gods, unless you really like wasting your money.

Phantasy Star Universe Sunsetting For Good In September


While Playstation and PC users already had their experience cut short two years ago, 360 gamers who enjoy a bit of Phantasy Star Universe will be sorely disappointed to hear that the game will be shutting its last doors later this year. In an announcement on the Sega forums, Edward@Sega detailed that servers will come down September 7th, 2012, and that while “network mode” will no longer be available, Phantasy Star Universe will still be playable in single player.

This was not an easy decision but there comes a time when we must consider the level of service and support we can provide for an ongoing game, and balance those concerns against preparing for the future, and providing you with new opportunities and new experiences.

Players with subscriptions extending past September will be refunded by Microsoft on a pro-rated basis. You can read Edward’s notes and his eulogy at the link below. Phantasy Star Online 2 is due for release in Summer 2012 as a free to play title for PC, with versions out for the iOS and Android devices by the end of 2012, and a version for Playstation Vita coming in early 2013.

(Source: SCEA Forums)

38 Studios Is DOA, Entire Staff Laid Off


The 38 Studios saga may come to a close faster than we thought. According to Fox 25 out of Boston, 38 Studios may be out of commission by this weekend at the earliest. If reports are to believed, employees aren’t being paid and are either leaving or being laid off in large quantities. The state of Rhode Island has refused to give any of the money requested, according to Curt Schilling, and many high-up employees have already announced their resignation (including the chief executive and senior vice president).

I am willing to bet that Electronic Arts will likely buy up Big Huge Games as well as the Amalur IP, but this is all speculation.

(Source: Fox Boston)

38 Studios Unveils Project Copernicus


We’ve known about 38 Studios’ plan to bring forth an MMO for quite some time, and with the bad news of late (money trouble, not paying loans, meeting with the governor, not paying employees, etc) it may be rather difficult to focus on the fact that 38 Studios is still working on said MMO. While very little is known about the game, 38 Studios released the above fly-through which showcases (at the very least) the art-style that we can expect.

Hopefully we see plenty more from 38 Studios in the future. With an impressive array of names including Todd McFarlane and a story written by none other than the man who owns my very soul, R.A. Salvatore (the monolith crumbling was not my fault, that contract was still fulfilled). Kingdoms of Amalur was a fun game, despite some criticisms, and it would be a grave disappointment to see such an amazing team lose out because of the bean counters.

More on 38 Studios and Project Copernicus as it appears.

38 Studios Missing Payments, Wants More Taxpayer Money


Ever since 2010, I did not think a developer could rattle my nerves as much as Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment and Gary Whiting, but 38 Studios and Curt Schilling are certainly looking to prove me wrong on all accounts. For the taxpayers of Rhode Island, the investment made by their state government by offering $75 million to 38 Studios to relocate and bring 450 jobs to the state, has turned into a nightmare. At this point in time if 38 Studios goes bankrupt, taxpayers will be on the hook for $112 million over the next eight years. Two days ago I reported that Governor Chafee had met with Curt Schilling to discuss keeping the company solvent.

Now we know that 38 Studios did not make its loan payment on May 1st. The Associated Press is reporting that Curt Schilling is now asking for more money from the state, although the amount has not been disclosed to the public. Governor Chafee, who did not support the loan citing 38 Studios’ lack of a successful release record, has committed to protecting the state’s investment and securing the taxpayer money, but has not responded to the request for additional funding.

While the loan doesn’t come directly from the taxpayer coffers, the agreement set up with 38 Studios means that Rhode Island will pay the lenders in case the studio defaults. So if 38 Studios loses, everyone in Rhode Island is going to pay for it.

We’ll have to wait and see as to what happens.

(Source: Associated Press)

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