The End of Asheron’s Call 2

Following a short but to the point announcement on the official Asheron’s Call 2 website, GameSpot has published an article about the scheduled closure of Turbine’s MMORPG on December30th, 2005:

In a posting on the official Asheron’s Call 2 Web site, Jeffrey Anderson, CEO of developer and publisher Turbine Entertainment, has announced the impending death of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

“In spite of our hard work and the launch of [Asheron’s Call 2 expansion pack] Legions, AC2 has reached the point where it no longer makes sense to continue the service,” Anderson wrote. “We will be officially closing the Asheron’s Call 2 service on 12/30/05. Until then, we plan to run live events, but we will not be adding any content or features.”

A Turbine spokesperson confirmed for GameSpot that the title was no longer profitable, and will be shut down in all existing markets. All staffers previously working on Asheron’s Call 2 have been reassigned.

It very likely feels weird and sad, when a game one has played for long suddenly shuts down with only a meager four month’s notice (it’s better than nothing, at least). Perhaps the negative reactions on the AC2 forums may seem exagerated to an outsider, but anyone who’s played and liked a MMORPG knows that you can’t just erase the game and the friends you made through it in a simple matter of minutes.

(Source: http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/08/25/news_6131975.html)