Despite having almost 2 million players currently building to their heart’s content in LEGO Universe, the publisher announced today that the game will be closing on January 31, 2012 – less than two years since it was released.
The MMO switched to a free to play model just a few months back, but despite being successful in raising the subscriber numbers, it didn’t help them actually make money. “The LEGO Universe team can take pride in having developed and launched a great LEGO experience that many players will miss,” said Jesper Vilstrup, Vice President, LEGO Universe. “Right now, we have almost 2 million players in LEGO Universe, and we get extremely positive feedback from players. Unfortunately, we have not been able to build a satisfactory revenue model in our target group, and therefore, have decided to close the game.”
More than just the game’s 2 million players are going to be effected by this news, too; LEGO has also announced that the staff working on the game at Play Well Studios in Louisville, Colorado, and the marketing department in Billund, Denmark, will be closed. LEGO has assured that these 115 employees will be helped to get new jobs, with within and outside of the company.
It's always sad to see an MMO die, especially one so close to its launch. When online servers for sports games are disconnected its sad, but the singleplayer is still there. With an MMO it's gone forever, and there's no way to ever enjoy it again. Hopefully others learn from their mistakes, as we'd hate to write up more articles about MMO deaths anytime soon.
