Tag: Defunct

Red5 Studios Gives 24 Hours Notice: Firefall To Shut Down


Red 5 Studios today unveiled the announcement that should surprise few: Firefall is finally closing down its servers. Firefall has been in limbo for a long time between the staff being laid off, server outages, and a total lack of development, at some point the game completely stopped functioning past a certain point with graphics card firmware which remained unpatched. There were plans at one point to port Firefall to the Playstation 4 which quietly fizzled out, there was more than one instance of Red5 being unable to fulfill payroll, and the Chinese cashmire company that owns Red5 became effectively worthless.

With heavy hearts, we regret to inform you that after much review and analysis, Red 5 Studios have decided to suspend the Firefall efforts on 7th, July 2017. Thank you for being an important part of the Firefall experience and for your loyalty and dedication to the online community.

Your efforts and loyalty will not go without recognition, however. Firefall is currently developing a mobile version of the game and all of Firefall’s founders and players will be rewarded greatly in the new game. We will be sure to provide everyone with more updates as we have them.

Thank you for your support and enthusiasm throughout the years; we will see you at the next battle.

MMO Fallout listed Firefall shutting down as one of our 2017 predictions.

Firefall will first announce that the console version is cancelled before revealing that the PC version is shutting down either simultaneously or a week or two later. Nobody will be surprised, however the last few hours will draw in a lot of people to watch the world burn.

(Source: Red5)

PSA: Alan Wake Is Disappearing, Get It Now 90% Off


Alan Wake is being put to bed permanently, so if you want to get your hands on the 2012 title, now may be your last chance. Originally released in 2012, Alan Wake’s developer/publisher Remedy Entertainment has hit a snag; their license on some of the music in the game is expiring. As a result, the game is being removed from sale on May 15. To send the game off in style, Remedy Entertainment has announced a 90% sale that will begin March 13 and run for 48 hours.

You’ll be able to pick up Alan Wake as well as its DLC and American Nightmare for 90% off, but if you’re going to grab yourself a copy then do so fast. The title becomes unavailable on the 15th.

(Source: Steam)

Akaneiro Developer Shows Up: Fixes Game


Akaneiro is alive, and appears to have someone back at the helm. Way back in September, I wrote about how Spicy Horse Games had shut down, that its customer support had closed, and that American McGee had left his game to rot. The servers had slowly become unstable to the point where they were no longer functioning, with no response from the person/people allegedly in charge of keeping the service running.

Well it looks like the server is not just back up and running, there is still someone left at Spicy Horse. Literally the last employee left at Spicy Horse has begun posting on the forums, noting that the servers were reverted back to their previous state and that more bug fixes are coming.

I’ve been able to restore server to it’s original state (before migration to new hosting). Everything related to steam is up and running. I also have full sources for game client so eventually I’ll release update to fix some annoying client bugs.

The employee is inviting players to report bugs and any questions at the link below.

(Source: Steam)

Civilization Online Goes Civilization Offline


s1

XL Games has announced that Civilization Online will be closing down, with servers shutting off on December 6th. Initially soft launched into beta, XL Games drew criticism and disappointment from western gamers with the announcement that the plan was to only launch the game in Korea, at least for the time being. With the news of the service shutting down before it even launches in its home country, the hopes of seeing the game come to the west have been effectively dashed.

(Source: Massively)

Webzen Will Be Shuttering ELOA, ASTA This Year


image004

Webzen has announced that two of its titles will be shutting down by the end of this year. First on the plate is ASTA Online, which will be taken offline October 4th. Beginning this week, the cash shop has officially closed and players will be able to utilize 100% boosts to experience, fame, and drops if they wish to continue playing until the service shuts down. All purchases from the past month will be reimbursed.

Many of you followed us all the way from IBT, to OBT, to multiple expansions, and your support made us believe we could succeed. Sadly, we were wrong. The players we have are awesome, and any company would be happy to have such a dedicated community, but sadly the recent player numbers are not sufficient for us to be able to continue the service. So, after discussions with Polygon Games, we have agreed that the game servers will close on the 4th of October.

Second on the chopping block is Elite Lord of Alliance, which will sunset further along. Similar to ASTA, the cash shop will close and all purchases from the last 30 days will be compensated.

Since official launch, we have been working hard to build a strong community and various events. Unfortunately, we have come to a difficult decision to end this long journey we have enjoyed and cherished together. We understand that this will disappoint many of our players.

More details can be found at each game’s respective website.

Destiny Putting Older Consoles Into Maintenance Mode This Year


Cayde-6_1410173955

Gamers who haven’t made their way to the current generation of consoles will be disappointed to find out that Destiny’s next expansion, Rise of Iron, will not be available on their respective platforms. Set to launch in September, Rise of Iron will be exclusive to Playstation 4 and Xbox One. While The Taken King will still be available on older consoles, Bungie warns that future content will be limited on the 360 and PS3, including:

  • Future Game Updates and Content Releases
  • Some Destiny Events and Content
  • Purchasing Silver
  • Accessing new Eververse Item purchases across console generations
  • Some Destiny Companion features on the Mobile App and Bungie.net

Beginning in August, Bungie will be providing an account import tool to upgrade your characters to a newer system. According to the FAQ, upgrades must be within the same console family (PS3 to PS4, 360 to XOne), under the same ID, and not all content will transfer. In addition, older consoles will no longer receive major content updates.

The list of features being disabled on older consoles includes:

  • Trials of Osiris
  • Iron Banner
  • Live Events
  • Purchasing Silver
  • Cross-platform progress

(Source: Bungie, Guided Support)

platforms_infographic

Planetside Shutting Down July 1st


00025934-photo-planetside-core-combat

April and May were really exciting months for us with the release of the new Construction System, base revamp of Indar, and new population caps to improve battle flow. It’s been exciting to watch all of you experiment with base design and shift battles in new directions. A big thanks to all of you who have jumped in to try it out and given us feedback.

While we hope you are as excited as we are about the recent changes, we do have to make a more solemn announcement. On July 1st, at 4:00 PM PT, we will be closing the PlanetSide 1 server. PlanetSide 1 has a very important history with Daybreak Games and a special place in the hearts of those who work on its successor. While we have run the game for free since 2014, due to evolving business needs and technical requirements it has become necessary to conclude this service.

We hope you will take this opportunity to enjoy the remaining time available with each other and please help us give PlanetSide 1 the sendoff it deserves.

Planetside was supported likely only by the grace of John Smedley and nostalgia, and since Smedley is no longer present and Daybreak has been axing projects left and right in an effort to reduce spending, it was only a matter of time before this ancient shooter got the axe.

(Source: Planetside 2)

Funcom Shutting Down Lego Minifigures Online


lego_minifigures_online_2

You know that there is trouble when a developer actively points out the best time to get out of their contract. We learned earlier this year that Funcom’s license with Lego Minifigures Online ends in October 2016, so there shouldn’t be a surplus of surprise that the title is being sunset at the end of September.

It is with a heavy heart that we announce that LEGO Minifigures Online will be closing on September 30th, 2016. We know that many of you are still enjoying your adventures in the game, and this has been a difficult decision for us to make but unfortunately, the time has come to retire LEGO Minifigures Online.

Lego Minifigures originally launched as a free to play game in 2014. When the title failed to meet expectations, Funcom transformed the game into a buy to play model, effectively locking out anyone who had previously played but not purchased anything. The poor performance of the model was attributed to overestimation of buying power, according to Funcom’s quarterly report from May 2015.

(Source: Funcom)

Darkfall Goes Offline


Darkfall01

Darkfall has gone offline, and Aventurine doesn’t know when, or if, it will be returning. Unholy Wars, the official version, went offline with a post on the official forums explaining to players that economic conditions in Greece have made the game unsustainable. While they hope that the disruption is only temporary, for now it should be considered indefinite.

We have been involved with Darkfall for over 13 years now and it is our hope that we will be able to continue well into the future with your support. Unfortunately, and against our best efforts, the conditions in Greece have caught up with us and do not allow us to continue operating the game as we have been so far. We hope that the disruption of Darkfall Unholy Wars service is temporary and that we will be back soon in a more sustainable format. We apologize for the inconvenience to all that are affected.

Rumors of Aventurine being in a bad situation have been rampant ever since the developer decided to license the original Darkfall out to two separate developers at the same time.

(Source: Darkfall)

Nosgoth Shutting Down Next Month


Image2

Nosgoth will shut down its servers at the end of May, according to a post on the official website. Anyone who made a purchase after March 1st will be automatically refunded as soon as possible, likely within the next two weeks.

It is with a heavy heart and an immense sense of sadness that we must announce the end of Nosgoth’s development. Servers will continue to run until 31st May 2016, during which time you will be able to play the game as normal. After that date, Nosgoth will be taken offline for the last time.

Nosgoth is a team-based shooter based on the Legacy of Kain series, launched on Steam in 2015. Steam Charts shows an average of one thousand concurrent players over the past few months. The announcement doesn’t mention much about the future of the Legacy of Kain series, other than to say that it independent of Nosgoth’s performance.

(Source: Nosgoth)