Tag: Shut down

Faxion: He's Dead, Jim.


If Faxion left us any wiser, the MMO has parted us with yet another harsh reminder that the free to play market is not the safe haven that it was once thought to be. For every triple-A game that loses its subscription tag, from Lord of the Rings Online to DC Universe, City of Heroes and Everquest II, the competition only increases, while at the same time key titles releasing in various states of unfinished has taken its toll on public tolerance. Of course there is also a lesson to be had in the developer putting faith in the game despite a low launch, and not laying off the entire staff. UTV Ignition did not pay heed to that lesson.

Either way, another chapter in the long line of MMOs has ended, and the Faxion servers have shut down for good (or at least until someone buys the game and re-launches it).

Faxion: He’s Dead, Jim.


If Faxion left us any wiser, the MMO has parted us with yet another harsh reminder that the free to play market is not the safe haven that it was once thought to be. For every triple-A game that loses its subscription tag, from Lord of the Rings Online to DC Universe, City of Heroes and Everquest II, the competition only increases, while at the same time key titles releasing in various states of unfinished has taken its toll on public tolerance. Of course there is also a lesson to be had in the developer putting faith in the game despite a low launch, and not laying off the entire staff. UTV Ignition did not pay heed to that lesson.

Either way, another chapter in the long line of MMOs has ended, and the Faxion servers have shut down for good (or at least until someone buys the game and re-launches it).

Would You Look At That: Mytheon Shutting Down


If you haven’t heard of Mytheon, it was developed by Petroglyph, the company behind the upcoming End of Nations and Rise of Immortals MMOs. Alright, you haven’t heard of Mytheon. Turns out neither has the rest of the press (including myself) because Mytheon announced it would be shutting down way back in July and none of us noticed until just this week.

For those thinking of getting one last shot in before the game goes down, don’t bother. It’s already offline, since when I can’t say for sure. Mytheon’s twitter account hasn’t been updated since April. Mytheon was such a small launch that I’m not even sure the game ever fully left open beta. How embarrassing for us.

Hopefully the development team at Mytheon was able to find work in Petroglyph’s other upcoming projects. Mytheon may have flown so far under the radar that it was picked off by a wayward swingset, but it’s always a tragedy when people not only lose their jobs but see the project they’ve worked on for years crumble at the push of a button.

World of Warcraft Magazine Canned


Blizzard has announced that the World of Warcraft magazine has shut its doors, leaving subscribers wondering what what will happen to their remaining paid issues. To compensate players, Blizzard is offering one of two options:

  1. To get a refund, you’ll have to send a letter to the Future US mail box.
  2. Or players can opt for in-game premium pets, which are allocated depending on how many issues you had left on your account.

Head over to the magazine website for more information.

The exact reason for the cancellation has not been confirmed, but low subscribers and high production costs are probably high on the list.

Faxion Online To Shut Down


My favorite questions are those that answer themselves. For instance, when the entire Faxion Online team was laid off, the question turned to how long the servers would remain standing before UTV finally announced the shut down. The answer: Today. Faxion Online players were greeted today with a somber note:

It’s with an extremely heavy heart that I write to inform you of the upcoming discontinuation of Faxion live services. This week, we will begin the process of ending live service, starting with the immediate discontinuation of store purchases, online registration, and client downloads, with final server closure scheduled to commence within the next 30 days.

Faxion is the heaven vs hell MMO that launched earlier this year in May, to a substantially low reception. Although the game was praised for its concept, it was widely panned as being unfinished and buggy. The game was described as essentially launching in a beta state, with the beta phase being an alpha. Unlike a few other MMOs that managed to launch in the beta stage and still move on to survive a few years out, Faxion didn’t gain the trust of its financier, UTV, laid off everyone at the company.

If Faxion is a lesson to MMO companies, that lesson is about launching an unfinished product in a market saturated with competition. The era where an indie developer can thrive because the game is free to play is over, with Lord of the Rings Online, Everquest II, and a growing list offering AAA experiences for next to nothing.

Who knows, perhaps K2 Networks will buy Faxion and relaunch it.

You Need A Better Source Than A Guy Who Knows A Guy


I simultaneously love and hate Massively. On one hand, they have a habit of being right when they offer credence to a layoff rumor, no matter how obscure the source. On the other hand, it’s still a rumor, and I don’t humor rumors unless they have a solid backing. Over at the Faxion Online forums, a couple of players are channeling ex-staffers laying claim that the entire Faxion development team has been laid off.

The question that remains is quite simply: What happens to Faxion next? Does UTV simply ride the game out until it is no longer making money? Will they sell it to another company? Will a new team be hired? Am I looking far too deep into this?

Then again, it might just be my 1:30am cynicism settling in.

LucasArts Breaks Silence: Talks Galaxies


With all the talks from Sony Online Entertainment regarding Star Wars Galaxies shutting down, LucasArts has been silent on the issue. Not anymore. In a letter from LucasArts, Gamepro has published the following:

 The decision to shut down the game has not been an easy one. SOE and LucasArts investigated every option to keep the game open, including taking it to a free to pay model. However, that model just isn’t financially viable. Changing the business model for an experience like Star Wars Galaxies takes a major investment and overhauling of the existing infrastructure of the game. We’re unfortunately at a point in our life cycle where a change of this magnitude is just not possible. The harsh reality is that we’ve reached a point where the game is no longer a sustainable business. None of us wanted to see this point, but we’re extremely proud of the last eight years of the game and the community that has supported it.

We have a lot planned between now and December and we want to make sure that from now until then, we send off Star Wars Galaxies in a style befitting such a great game. We’ll be right there in the game with everyone else, counting down until the end, making sure we connect with all the friends we’ve made over the past eight years. It may be bittersweet, it may feel like it’s happening before it should, but we have approximately five months remaining where we can all enjoy the game together. We sincerely hope the community will join us.

Well it’s certainly a response, and it does show that a free to play model was at least considered.

Star Wars Galaxies Shuts Down December 15th


Six years. Back when the New Game Enhancements and Combat Upgrade hit Star Wars Galaxies in 2005, players asked: How long can the game last now that Sony has alienated its core group? The answer is six years. What can be called the biggest PR blunder in the history of the gaming industry, spawned a game that survived six years, countless updates, and a steadily dwindling player base. Here at MMO Fallout, I always hate having to write these articles, and thankfully for the past two years I’ve only had to write them once every few months. I’m the only person in my room currently, so to say that the room fell silent at this news may not make sense to anyone but those dwelling in my mind.

Over at the Star Wars Galaxies website, John Smedley has announced that Galaxies will shut down on December 15th.

In recognition of your incredible loyalty, we are extending special Fan Appreciation offers to the current SWG community. We also plan to go out with a bang with a galaxy-ending in-game event in December and hope to see you all there. The details relating to these offers and events as well as the timeline and specifics regarding the discontinuation of the service, are provided below.

In an interview with John Smedley at Massively, Smedley reveals that the contract for Galaxies was up in 2012, and with the release of The Old Republic late this year, the two companies mutually decided that now was a good time to end the game. Smedley talks about numerous things, but most interestingly he brings up the NGE.

There’s really nothing we can do about it. We’ve taken some hard-knocks for SWG in years past with the NGE. We’ve apologized for it. It was a mistake, and not one we’re going to make as a company ever again. But we’re really proud of the great work that we’ve done over the years since then. I’m really proud of the game. It’s great. Is it going to bum people out that it’s over? Yes. Including us. Maybe even especially us.

On one note, according to Smedley no one is losing their job over this. They are moving to an undisclosed project.

You can read the entire announcement above. For those of us who have followed or played Galaxies since its inception, this will truly be the end of an era.

More on Star Wars Galaxies as it appears. And just before Galaxies’ birthday…feliz navidad.

Lineage Shutting Down In NA: Pick Up Your Package


[Update: 5/18] I’ve been seeing a lot of searches pointing to this page by players who want to know if their accounts will work on the Korean version when the North American servers shut down. Simple answer is no, your account will not work on the Korean version.]

Writing this article, I’m reminded of a few random comments placed on the last NCsoft article I wrote (about how NCsoft’s subscription games were performing better than their non-subscription games). Lineage entered the scene back in 1998, a year after Ultima Online, and with it brought the little game studio known as NCsoft to an eagerly awaiting pile of money, spawning a sequel as well as shuttling NCsoft into one of the major players nowadays in the MMO industry. Ironically, the designer of Lineage (Jake Song) had previously worked on NEXUS, for Nexon.

Lineage is still going strong in Korea, some unknown number under one million according to Wikipedia, but over here in the west the game just isn’t doing well. Not well enough to maintain profitability anyway. Today, NCsoft announced that the western service for Lineage will be shut off this June 29th. While there are no updates planned, the article does mention ruleset changes and in-game events planned.

Information on compensation is already available. Unused time will be refunded, and any player with an active subscription during 2011 will receive:

  • Lineage II activation code and two months game time, as well as some free items.
  • Aion activation code plus collector’s upgrade, and two months free game time, as well as free items.
  • Guild Wars activation code.
  • City of Heroes activation code and two booster packs.
It’s always sad to see a game go, especially knowing that it is still available (just not in your region). For what it’s worth, Lineage’s western counterpart lived a full life, and died a ripe old age of thirteen years (that’s 91 in MMO years)

Fantasy Earth Zero Shutting Down In West


Final Fantasy?

Fantasy Earth Zero is what you might call Square Enix’s first failed MMO, seeing as they shut the game down in Japan only months after launch, before the game even had a chance to launch worldwide. The game was boring, confusing, and didn’t have much to go on in terms of content or long term viability. After the game shut down, in a measure we all know well, another company picked up the title to relaunch.

Gamepot launched Fantasy Earth Zero back in 2006 in Japan, whereas the North American version did not hit until just last year, May 2010. While the game has enjoyed some form of success over in the east, the same could not be said for its much delayed North American counterpart. In an announcement today, Gamepot announced that Fantasy Earth Zero will be shutting down in North America on March 21st, less than a year after launch.

http://fez.gamepotusa.com/announcements/index.aspx?id=224