Shut down – Page 8 – MMO Fallout

It’s Official: Massively Is Shutting Down

I owe a lot to Massively and the Joystiq network, seeing as they are one of the bigger news websites to regularly share my content with a wider audience, so it’s sad to see that they will be shutting down on February 3rd. With the small number of mainstream MMO news websites, Massively was the top source for news for myself and likely many of you. It was nice to see a big company like AOL funding the Joystiq network.

The decision, it appears, came from the top echelon of AOL.

We all suspected this was coming eventually a year ago when a VP whose name I don’t even know and who never read our site chose to reward our staggering, hard-won 40% year-over-year page view growth by… hacking our budget in half.

The post hints at the possibility of the Massively team striking out and self-funding their next endeavor. We wish them the best of luck, and by we I mean me.

(Source: Massively)

Blacklight Retribution Devs Close Doors

Blacklight Retribution dev Zombie Studios has announced that they are shutting down after twenty years of developing video games. The company revealed in a post on the main website that the owners have decided to retire and, rather than pass the studio on to new hands, are allowing the company to retire with them.

Luckily this doesn’t mean the death of Zombie Studios properties, which will live on in the form of Builder Box, who will take over the operation of Blacklight Retribution.

(Source: Destructoid)

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)

Side Quest Missing: Presumed Dead

It’s really disappointing to see promising games never receive the attention that they deserve, and an unfortunate reality of the environment we live in today. I wrote an early preview of Side Quest where I had a great time playing, but felt as though the game would receive better exposure as a mobile title, where gamers are more adept to the less involved nature of playing. Unfortunately as it goes, sometimes these games just shut down and disappear without a trace. The Side Quest website went down weeks ago and now returns a 404 error.

Since Fractal Entertainment hasn’t updated their Twitter and Facebook since November 2013, I think it’s safe to assume that this one isn’t coming back. Rest in peace, Side Quest, we hardly knew ye.

Rusty Hearts Shutting Down

Perfect World Entertainment has announced that Rusty Hearts will be closing down on September 15th. Starting today, August 4th, it will no longer be possible to download Rusty Hearts and players will be unable to transfer Zen to their characters. Players who have been active during the past thirty days will find any Zen they purchased in the last six months credited to their wallet, which can then be transferred to other Perfect World Entertainment titles.

Rusty Hearts launched three years ago.

(Source: Arc Games)

Ultima Forever Shutting Down August 29th

With Mythic Entertainment dead and buried, the last remnants of the company are beginning to fall. Ultima Forever is the latest domino to fall, with Electronic Arts announcing that the servers will come down on August 29th.

While the past year has certainly been quite the adventure – in Britannia and beyond! – that adventure is now drawing to a close, as the time has come for us to say goodbye. As of Aug 29th 2014 (11:00 AM EDT), Ultima Forever will be shutting down its online services, and will no longer be available to play.

Ultima Forever launched in 2013, where the initial excitement over another Ultima game quickly made way for disappointment. What might have been a promising title was bogged down thanks to a greedy and overbearing cash shop. In honor of the last month, players will receive boosts to rewards and have armor degradation disabled.

(Source: Ultima Forever)

CCP Shutting Down DUST 514 Oceania Servers

CCP has announced that the Oceania servers for DUST 514 will be shut down following regularly scheduled maintenance on Monday, July 28th. In a post on the forums, CCP Frame stated that a low population on the server led to players from other regions using it to set up rigged battles against one another.

Following the shutdown, players on the Oceania servers will be redirected toward either the Asia or North American servers, depending on their location and ISP.

(Source: DUST 514)

Age Of Empires Online Shuts Down Today

Age of Empires Online takes its last breaths today. The pseudo-MMO adaptation of Microsoft’s popular series never fully caught on thanks to its limited content and rather expensive cost of purchases, as well as the cheaper, more readily available alternative titles in the series. We learned last year in January that content development had ceased, and finally in October that the servers would come down in July due to the closure of Games for Windows Live services.

With full Age of Empires titles on sale for cheap, players found little reason to throw down $20 to unlock a single civilization. Following an unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign for an RTS called Wildman, Gas Powered Games laid off a number of staff and sold off to Wargaming.net.

Ridge Racer Driftopia Cancelled Mid-Beta

Bandai Namco has announced that Ridge Racer Driftopia will shut down its servers on August 15th. The free to play racing game launched September 9th on the Steam Early Access with the hopes of launching on the Playstation 3 down the line. Players are able to purchase vehicles, experience, and other items via the in-game cash shop, and the game is still available on Steam for the time being.

“The leading developer and publisher wanted to take this opportunity to thank all its players for their permanent support and dedication! All the feedbacks will be taken into account for the upcoming projects.”

Bugbear Entertainment’s next car game, appropriately titled Next Car Game, is also on Steam Early Access albeit at a price of $30 for admission.

(Source: Gamespot)

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