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Final Fantasy XI Shutting Down On PS2/360

Square Enix’s Thursday Livestream has come and gone, and the announcements were not all great. Square unveiled the Vana’Diel Project, a three part strategy to continue support for the aging MMO. The first part, unfortunately, involves ending content updates. Following a three chapter scenario aimed for launch in May, August, and November, Final Fantasy XI will cease to receive content updates.

FINAL FANTASY XI’s major version updates will conclude with the implementation of the final chapter of Rhapsodies of Vana’diel, but there will continue to be minor version updates that address bugs and contain various balance adjustments.

Playstation 2 and Xbox 360 users will be sad to hear that services for those platforms will end in March 2016. Final Fantasy XI will be ported to be playable on mobile devices, alongside the launch of a mobile RPG in 2016.

(Source: FFXI)

Storybricks Closing Down

Storybricks, the developer behind the AI platform created for Everquest Next, is no more. Last month we learned that Storybricks and Sony Online Entertainment were parting ways, a severance that CEO Rodolfo Rosini now states is of no fault of SOE’s.

It was our own decision and Sony Online Entertainment (now Daybreak Games) bears no fault for it. Sony Online Entertainment had been up for sale for a long time so our exit had no connection with the Columbus Nova acquisition.

Plans to sell the Storybricks tech went sour after a buyer was unable to be found and everyone involved is now working at other companies. Rosini still wants the AI platform to be widely available, and is planning on releasing a few side projects unrelated to Everquest Next in the hopes that those dreams can be realized.

At one point, Storybricks even attempted to buy Sony Online Entertainment, but the deal fell through with Sony Japan due to questionable terms.

Make no mistake the company needed cuts badly, and we would have cut and cut deeply. Possibly as deep as Columbus Nova did but maybe we would have cut more senior management and less game developers instead. It was our intention to try to acquire the 38 Studios assets and made them available to players in EQN. Moreover we would have probably changed the server infrastructure allowing people to run their own servers. It would not have been a very canonical EverQuest but we would have done the best to service our customers with the limited budget of an independent studio who wanted to punch above its weight.

(Source: Storybricks Email)

Transformers Universe Shutting Down January 2015

Jagex has announced that the servers for MOBA Transformers Universe will shut down on January 31st, 2015. The decision was made mutually between the UK developer and Hasbro, and comes on the hilt of both companies realigning their focus for the year ahead.

The shutdown period will begin from today. As part of the winding down we will be refunding all those that have purchased a Founders Pack, as well as anyone that has purchased relic bundles and starter packs. These refunds should be all processed in the next 30 days. In addition we will be closing the ability for new players to make accounts, those of you that already have accounts will continue to be able to use them until the closure date.

Players who do not receive refunds after January 16th should email customer support.

(Source: Transformers Universe)

Update: Microsoft To Blame For Warface Shuttering

Following up on the announcement that Warface would be shutting down its Xbox 360 services, Crytek has come forward to finger Microsoft as the culprit. A representative of Crytek told Game Informer in a statement that the decision to shut the servers down was made by Microsoft, acting publisher of Warface on the Xbox.

“With Microsoft acting as publisher for Warface on Xbox 360, we are bound by their decision to phase out the game on their console.”

The Warface server officially shuts down in February. The PC service remains unaffected.

(Source: Game Informer)

CalcMMO Shutting Down Today

It is truly a sad day here at MMO Fallout, as we must pass along the news that CalcMMO will be shutting down later today. What? You never heard of CalcMMO? CalcMMO is the world’s first and last TI-83 themed MMO, which launched on Steam’s early access earlier today. CalcMMO is free to play and scales down enough to run on a toaster. Those of you without sound cards are advised to make bleep sounds with your mouth.

CalcMMO was voted MMO Fallout’s Most Anticipated Game of 2014, making this news exceptionally disappointing. Thank you to Archive Entertainment for throwing this brick-strapped press release through my open window.

(Source: CalcMMO Press Release)

End of Nations Is Dead: Stripped From Trion's Website

If you’ve been following the development of End of Nations, the announcement that development on the title has stopped will be of no surprise. It is almost hard to believe that at one point, nearly a year and a half ago, End of Nations almost reached open beta status. Following a round of layoffs at Petroglyph Entertainment, however, Trion announced that development of the title would be moving in-house and that further beta tests would be on hold “until further notice.” Trion later confirmed that the game would be revamped from an MMO real time strategy game into a MOBA.

A company changing focus that late in development is never a good sign, and End of Nations’ death was essentially guaranteed when “open beta soon” became “on hold until further notice,” and then “join our alpha test” a couple of months later. It looks likely that this may be the last time we hear about End of Nations, as Trion has pulled down the official website and the Trion’s own website makes no mention of the game any more. Trion’s statement to the press confirmed that the game has indeed been halted.

As we informed EON’s community last fall, internal development on End of Nations was put on hold in late 2013 while we evaluated potential paths forward for the title. We’re currently focusing the company’s energy and creativity on Rift, Defiance, Trove, ArcheAge and some new projects that we will be revealing soon.

End of Nations seeing release at this point would be a miracle the likes of which the world has never seen. The impossible kind.

(Source: Polygon)

Heroes In The Sky Shutting Down

Gamigo has announced that their air combat MMO Heroes in the Sky will be shut down on December 3rd. Gamigo customers should have received a notice from the publisher with details on how they can transfer their accounts to the new host, GameUs.

We regret having to inform you that the service of Heroes in the Sky on the gamigo website will shut down on December 3rd, 2013. The Cash Shop will already be shut down on November 29th, 2013. From that date on, it will be impossible for players to make new purchases.

(Source: Gamigo Email)

Dominus Is Dead, Announces Pitchblack Games

It is with a heavy heart that I have to say goodbye, or at least goodbye for now. We simply cannot deliver the game you deserve with the resources we have. We never quit trying, even when hope faded, because you – our community – kept us inspired.

It is a sad day for sandbox fans, as another title has died on the operating table. Dominus, or Prime: Battle for Dominus as it was once known as, is being shut down mid-development due to a lack of resources over at Pitchblack Games. This may not be the end of Pitchblack Games, or Dominus, however.

Interested investors are kindly asked to email info@pitchblackgames.com. The notion of using Kickstarter has been thrown around by the community, with no response from Pitchblack on the matter.

Either way, it is sad to see another prospective gem fizzle out before it even has a chance to compete.

(Source: Pitchblack Forums)

Mythos Shutting Down In Europe

If you live in the US and were eagerly awaiting the North American release of Mythos (and let’s face it, how many among us can honestly say we weren’t holding off only Old Republic preorders), you will be disappointed to hear that those prospects for a release and long life span have dropped rather significantly. In the EU, Mythos already launched under Frogster. In the United States, Hanbitsoft will be taking the reigns.

Of course, if you were waiting for Mythos to launch in North America, you’d know that Codemasters is shutting down Mythos in Europe, following what the company described as a great launch and then a terrible retention rate (and as I’ve pointed out time and time again, it’s all about retention in this business).

MYTHOS enjoyed great popularity with the launch in April and the numerous registered users ensured a good start. The desired long-term success unfortunately did not follow. Under these circumstances, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue the operation of MYTHOS.

This puts Mythos’ life span at about six months. Players who bought into the game will be compensated via credits for Runes of Magic, and potentially beta keys for Codemasters’ upcoming title Eligium.

You can read the entire announcement here.

Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment Wins: Still Loses

Just like a Semi and my Mini-Cooper

What does baffle me about this is the tolerance or low expectations of MGM, owners of the Stargate license. Either MGM is not paying attention, at all, or they firmly believe that Cheyenne, in all of their continuing downward spiral, is somehow the only choice for a Stargate MMO. Or they don’t care anymore.

Back in March, I announced that Stargate Worlds was officially unofficially defunct, officially because Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment was so far into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and beating up Gary Whiting that the chances of release was somewhere between no chance and not a snowball’s chance in hell. In that article, however, I turned my guns to MGM, asking as simple question: Why have you allowed this to continue?

The legal battle over Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, over which likely none of you remember, is over, and CME has retained full rights to the game assets in a lawsuit between them and the makers of Stargate: Resistance. Essentially, although people like myself assumed that Fresh Start Studios would be the new enterprise for Cheyenne, the company sued Fresh Start to stop the fraudulent transfer of assets.

So Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment gets to keep their assets…but they have no Stargate License. Answering my question from back in March, the license with MGM expired this month, and MGM decided to terminate the license. Getting the license back will no doubt prove difficult for CME, and Gary Whiting (who has been back in charge for a while now, from court order).

Oh and, dear March 2010 me:

More on Stargate Worlds if it ever appears, but it seems as if this saga is finally coming to an end.

No, it isn’t. Not even close.

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