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City of Steam powering down, switching to new name and ownership [Updated]
It's the end of the line for the free-to-play steampunk game City of Steam -- at least on R2Games servers. The publisher has announced that doors will be closing at 2:59 a.m. EDT on November 22nd. Even with what are probably the most impressive graphics in a browser-based game, CoS apparently couldn't keep enough players to remain viable. With the closure, the in-game currency Electrum can no longer be acquired, but all previously bought Electrum can be spent on store items throughout the month. Does this mean that CoS is powering down for good? Not according to developer Mechanist Games, which has announced that it plans on releasing a new version of the game the same month: Circumstances have contributed to a significant loss of players and we've decided to cease the current game operations for the Global English version and take City of Steam back. This is a decision we have taken months to reach, and are confident that it's best for the health of the players, the community and the game itself. City of Steam is not shutting it down. We at Mechanist Games will improve and self-publish the game, and endeavor to make it available to as many of the original fans as possible by cooperating with popular English language browser-gaming platforms (to be announced). City of Steam will be upgraded during the time it is offline to better suit the player demographics of the new browser-gaming platforms publishing the game; new content, new features, new systems, massive change to the economy and statistics, new equipment and cosmetics, new quests and an overhaul of most of the level art and main quests. Some features will be removed. There will also be a massive flying fortress for characters of any level to congregate in. Because of these numerous and sizeable changes, the game will be re-launched in November under the title City of Steam: Arkadia. [Updated with the statement from the press release from Mechanist!]
EverQuest Mac shutting down (again)
After a stay of execution last year, EverQuest Mac will be shut down on November 18th. SOE cited the need to devote its resources to upcoming games as a reason for the sunset. "After much review and consideration, we have made the decision to sunset EverQuest Mac," the studio posted. "EQMac was originally scheduled to sunset in early 2012, but we kept the game up and running following the passionate feedback received from the community. As we align development resources towards our upcoming slate of games, we cannot justify the resources required to continue to support EQMac. The remaining EverQuest titles (EverQuest, EverQuest II, EverQuest Next, and EverQuest Next Landmark) will not be affected by this closure. We appreciate all of your contributions over the years and hope to see you in other EQ games." SOE President John Smedley added his condolences: "Please know that this was not a decision that was taken lightly. It was a hard call to make, but we know it's the right thing to do." EQMac is a Mac-only version of the game that's been effectively frozen in time since the Planes of Power expansion. You can read our history as well as veterans' stories of the title. The last EverQuest game to be shut down was EverQuest Online Adventures in March 2012.
The last days of Distro
On Friday, September 27th, Engadget will publish the last issue of our weekly tablet magazine, Distro. However, Distro (unlike disco) isn't dead. When Distro launched in October 2011, we were entering a relatively new space. At the time, we were one of the first online-only publications to produce a companion magazine app. We launched the same day as Apple's Newsstand and landed there (and on the Android Market) less than two weeks later, while some of the biggest names in publishing stood by to see if the tablet was worth the investment. Over the course of two years, Distro has served as a jumping-off point for award-winning design, in-depth analysis and a focus on long-form storytelling, and we plan to bring everything we've learned to Engadget at large. Along with a commitment to thoughtful design and feature content, you'll start to see some of our favorite recurring features popping up here on Engadget's homepage. So, while Distro will no longer live in the Newsstand, or Google Play or Windows Store, it's not quite time to pull out the bagpipes. So instead of saying goodbye, let's leave it at we'll see you tomorrow. Distro will continue to be available in the Newsstand, Play Store and Windows 8 marketplace until early October. After that, you'll be able to download archived PDFs from Engadget.
Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Online sunsetting in September
It looks as though Disney is going on a good old-fashioned reaping today and culling some of its less-profitable MMO properties. In addition to shuttering Toontown Online, the Mouse House is sunsetting Pirates of the Caribbean Online on September 19th. The official announcement informed players today of the sad news and explained the decision to cancel this title: "The Walt Disney Company is committed to offering high-quality, entertaining play experiences in both online virtual worlds and mobile apps. At this time, we are shifting our development focus towards other online and mobile play experiences, such as Club Penguin and a growing selection of Disney mobile apps." The upshot of this is that the final month will be playable for free to anyone interested, and any players who paid up past August 20th will receive an email with details regarding refunds.
Disney's Toontown closing on September 19
Disney's Toontown Online is closing up shop on September 19th. As of August 20th, paid member accounts will no longer feature recurring charges, and memberships are no longer available for purchase. Disney says that all Toons may now play as members for free through the game's closing date. The announcement post also hints at "Toontastic activities and kooky celebrations" on tap for the title's final month. [Thanks Master Von SuperJinks!]
Zune Marketplace closing with Microsoft Points conversion
The Zune Marketplace will close its virtual doors whenever Microsoft decides to flip the switch and convert from MS Points to local currency, which could be as soon as Thursday, August 22 according to the Zune Marketplace FAQ. The Zune Marketplace's movie and television rental/purchasing functionalities will be taken over by the Xbox Video platform, whereas its musical feature set will become the domain of Xbox Music, provided you've got a subscription to the service that allows streaming to an Xbox 360. Microsoft recommends that you "spend your points balance prior to this change," but last we heard MS Points will be converted into an amount of local currency of equal or greater value.
Gpotato's Sevencore meets an early demise
Despite recently seeing the first of what players hoped would be a string of new content, gPotato's new title Sevencore announced today that it will be closing its doors. A forum post says that the game "has proved to be less attractive to players than anticipated and thus [it's] become unprofitable for the developer to be continued as a game." The developers hope to transition active players by undertaking the following: Reimbursing all gPotatoes spent between the 1st of February and today as well as between 30% and 75% of purchases prior to this date, Closing the in-game shop with immediate effect while considering making all shop items available for free, Keeping the game open until the end of April, Boosting experience gain and running events during the final period of the game, and Encouraging players to migrate to other gPotato games with special enticement packages. This bad news comes on the heels of the news that Webzen recently purchased gPotato and Gala-Net. Perhaps the purchase will breath new life into the developer after it showed a dip in quarterly sales when compared to the last year.
Report: BioWare San Francisco closes, up to 30 staffers laid off
According to a report on GamesRadar, BioWare San Francisco – the studio formerly known as EA2D and responsible for titles like Dragon Age Legends and Mirror's Edge 2D – has been closed by EA, leaving between 25 to 30 employees jobless. Citing a source inside the studio, the report suggests EA felt it was "too expensive" to make mobile games in Redwood Shores, CA.Joystiq has followed up with EA to check the veracity of this claim. Dragon Age Legends' servers were shut off last year, but the developers at BioWare San Francisco were kind enough to make an offline version available for fans to continue to play.
Gameloft announces 27% boost in earnings in 2012, 56% of sales from back catalog
Developer Gameloft has announced its earnings for the last quarter, and they're up. The company even beat out its own guidance, ending 2012 with a 27 percent boost in earnings on the year in total, up to $275 million. I would have thought much of that was from the major Christmas sales that we saw, but I would have been wrong: Gameloft says that the company's Q4 sales were only up by 23 percent, with Q2 and Q3 showing more growth, at 35 and 37 percent, respectively. That's interesting. The company also announced that while sales of major new releases of course played a part in its success, over 56 percent of its sales in 2012 came from back catalog titles, older releases like Ice Age Village, Order and Chaos Online and Asphalt 7. It's a lot to draw out a trend from the earnings report of one company, but those numbers definitely stand out. I wonder if we're hitting a transition point on iOS in general -- in the past, big new releases (and Christmas sales) have almost always made or broken companies' earnings reports, but I wonder if, as the App Store gets more and more crowded, just having bigger libraries of back catalog titles might not make more of a difference. Of course, at the same time, Gameloft announced that it has shut down its India-based studio, so not everything is going perfectly over there.
Blockbuster closures in UK hit 160 stores
Deloitte, the group handling the administration of Blockbuster UK, will close 160 of the retailer's 500 stores. Blockbuster UK went into administration Wednesday, appointing Deloitte to the task of handling the bankruptcy proceedings and finding a buyer for the company.Lee Manning, an administrator with the group, told GamesIndustry International, "Having reviewed the portfolio with management, the store closure plan is an inevitable consequence of having to restructure the Company to a profitable core which is capable of being sold." Deloitte noted that more store closings may hit in the coming weeks.
GamesCampus closing doors on Scarlet Legacy
While last year certainly had its share of MMO closures, it didn't take long for a game to hit the chopping block in 2013. Scarlet Legacy, the free-to-play game that started its run with an open beta back in August 2011, will head into the sunset on February 12th. While the server will remain open until this date for players, the cash shop has already closed down. GamesCampus thanks players for all their support and noted that while it cannot offer compensation for already purchased items, it is looking into giving folks Campus Credit or bonus packages to other GamesCampus games.
Family Guy Online shuts down forever in January
Family Guy Online is closing down for good on January 18 – and really, it probably is for good. Family Guy Online, an interactive, quasi-MMO, microtransactional world, never made it out of open beta, meaning it's getting the shut-down before ever getting the go-ahead.Any real-money purchases players made between October 22 and December 21 will be refunded, with processing completed in early January. Check out the complete process on the Family Guy Online site.
Family Guy Online to shut down next month
Get your Quahog gaming fix soon because Family Guy Online is not long for this world. The game announced that it will be shutting down next month on January 18th. Family Guy Online is currently in open beta, which means that it will have never officially launched before spinning down. The game will refund any cash purchases made during the last two months (from October 22nd through December 21st). If you're curious how this interactive version of the TV animated series performed, you can check out Beau's Rise and Shiny expedition. [Thanks to Matthew for the tip!]
The Think Tank: What's your solution to save closing MMOs?
In the spectrum of entertainment, MMOs are still relatively young. When the original MMOs were created in the late '90s, I don't imagine the innovators thought much about what would happen if millions of people got hooked on these games, built solid relationships, put thousands of hours into their characters... and then it all went away. The consequence of that unique situation is a lot more painful than most early developers could have imagined, yet it's happening more frequently. With the closure of popular MMOs like Star Wars Galaxies, City of Heroes and more, some players are a bit irritated at the genre as a whole. Not too many other time-investment hobbies can completely go away as quickly as an MMO. So what does the Massively staff think is the solution? Do we turn to F2P publishers to throw some cash shop Band-Aids on the game and nudge it back into the wild? Do we bypass legal avenues and look at emulators? Is there even such thing as a solution?
Verizon App Store begins closure in January 2013, pulled from all compatible devices by the end of March
The Verizon App Store will begin the process of shutting down for good starting in January 2013, US cellular carrier Verizon Wireless says, with plans to be fully off "all compatible Android and Research in Motion devices" by March 27, 2013. No specific reason is given for the closure, but Verizon does detail, "a whole new tech landscape" shaping its decision, and that the company is "evolving" strategy in accordance with said "new tech landscape." No doubt that the new landscape Verizon speaks of involves the dominance of Google's own Play store for Android, as well as RIM's BlackBerry App World. If you're a developer worried about what's gonna happen to your app, the company says you'll retain all your app metrics, reporting, and payments throughout the closure. We're also reassured that the developer community's support won't be going away in the future, post-closure, with Verizon's David Sandberg telling Engadget, "The developer community -- that website and the folks who work with developers -- they'll still be there. We'll still be providing them with support." The closure also won't affect any employee positions, Sandberg says.
Black Prophecy says goodbye today with parties
At the end of last month, Reakktor Media announced that the free-to-play space MMO Black Prophecy would be closing down for good on September 26th. Today, the studio posted a message on its Facebook page reminding players of the goodbye parties and inviting them to join with devs during the game's final hours to send it off into the sunset. The parties will be held tonight, first on the two EU servers Shinava and Kemmura at 3:00 p.m. EDT (9:00 p.m. PM CEST), and then on the US server Altair at 9:00 p.m. EDT. The servers are scheduled to shut down permanently in the morning.
Google shutters Music Search in China, concedes battle to Baidu
Google has had a rough go of it in China. The company seems to fall farther and farther behind the home-grown search powerhouse Baidu. The latest battle Mountain View has been forced to concede is in the world of music. Google Music Search launched in 2009 as a legal alternative to Baidu's own tool that turned up primarily illicitly shared results. The service never took off, even with the backing of a local partner, and things only got worse when the web giant ceased censoring results and took it wares to Hong Kong. The fatal blow came last year when Baidu signed a licensing deal with One-Stop China -- a joint venture of Universal, Warner and Sony BMG. Since that day, you could argue that Google has only been postponing the inevitable. Today's announcement officially begins the countdown, and on October 19th Google Music Search will close its doors for good in China.
(Correction: no layoffs planned) EA plans to cut 1,000 jobs, close at least nine offices
The struggling economy is finally hitting the video game industry, and hard. EA is preparing to undertake some rather drastic cost-cutting measures, including laying off 1,000 workers. That number represents 10 percent of its total employees, a large enough chunk that several titles and franchises will be getting the ax as well. To further slash costs, EA will be closing at least nine facilities across the globe and condense its teams into fewer offices. Most of the specifics have not been released, but we do know that Black Box Studio (responsible for the Need for Speed series) will move from Vancouver to a location in Burnaby, British Columbia. All told EA expects to save about $120 million a year thanks to the layoffs and closings, but how much that will actually helps its bottom line remains to be seen. Correction: We regret any confusion caused by this story. It was based on old information and never should have been published. To our knowledge there are currently no plans for additional layoffs or office closures at Electronic Arts. Our sincerest apologies to our readers and EA for any trouble caused by its publication.
Fans show spectacular support for City of Heroes
Years and years of acting out a super-human ideal in-game have apparently worn off on the players of City of Heroes. Faced with the news that their beloved game is due to sunset before the end of the year, CoH fans have been putting on a tremendous show of support for the game and Paragon Studios. Saturday saw a massive rally on the in-game steps of City Hall in Atlas Park as players gathered to show their support and love for Paragon Studios and its employees. The support campaign continues, however: Intrepid CoH fans have organized a call to action to bombard NCsoft with capes and masks through the mail. Fans are also rising up to share their feelings via letters to Taek Jin Kim, NCsoft's CEO, which has caught the attention of fantasy writer and CoH guest author Mercedes Lackey. In response to the original call to letter-writing action, Lackey said said she was extending an offer to NCsoft to endorse, uncompensated, any and all NCsoft products if the company can only find a way for CoH to live on. Skip below the cut for a short clip showing a composite of the 3,000-odd heroes spread across 32 instances of Atlas Park on the Virtue server, or hit up the official boards for some screenshots from the unity rally.
Exclusive Ryzom interview details player wipes and server merges
If you have been a Ryzom fan as long as I have, you know that the road to Atys has been long and bumpy. Unfortunately, the bumps haven't stopped. Winchgate has just announced that it's planning to merge existing servers and wipe existing characters. That means if you have built characters over these last several years, they will no longer be as they were Massively interviewed Vianney Lecroart, Ryzom's CTO, to ask about what this means for the game and community, so read on for first the official announcement and then Lecroart's comments.
