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Cabal Online: OGPlanet Out as NA Publisher
MikeB
Community ManagerAdministrator RarePosts: 6,555
It's never fun reporting on the closing of an MMOG, most of us know how it feels to have a game they have been playing for awhile shut down, but unfortunately it is an all too common occurrence in this industry.
)
Today, we have learned that EST Soft, the developers behind Cabal Online have chosen not to extend their contract with OGPlanet to operate the game, and as a result Cabal Online will be shutting down on March 31st, 2010.
Astro item shop items are no longer available for purchase, and OGPlanet will be announcing information on compensation for Cabal players in the near future.
View the original announcement here.
[Thanks Kost for the tip!]
UPDATE: The announcement of Cabal Online's shut down currently only applies to the North American version of the game, which is published by OGPlanet.
UPDATE 2: EST Soft (the developers of Cabal Online) will be picking up the North American service and will run it in-house. All user data will be preserved. View the announcement here.
Comments
Cabal who?
umm what? Last time I checked it was one of the most popular ftp mmos on the market o_O
Well that blows. This game was actually fun if you sat down and played it. I was constantly trying to beat my highest combo and staying beefy so i could ward off anyone who thought they'd attack me and then run away without thinking twice to do it again. Really sucks that it is shutting down.
It was not one of the better f2p games and the genre is getting a host of new games in this category monthly. When push comes to shove many of these older games are going to end up folding because once you get to a certain point in these games there is no way to avoid paying money to play.
I look for more announcements coming from some of the older f2p games. Without much content many of them can't hold players for long nor attract new ones.
From the information I have been getting, EST decided not to renew the contract because they are going to take the game in-house and run it personally. Hopefully there will be a data migration and the users will be able to pick up where they left off. Sort of like what happened with Nexon and Wizet over Maple Story a few years back, just instead of abosrbing the company like Nexon did to Wizet, EST just cut OGPlanet out of the loop to get 100% of the profits.
This isn't a good sign for OGP. In the last year, they have lost 3 games. Albatross18(Pangya), BBTanks, and now Cabal. They have been more responsive to their players and have taken many more steps than before to server them. Perhaps the corporate arrogance has worn off a bit and the reality has hit them that they don't have much more to lose before they close their doors. As a player of Latale their "flagship" game, I know that OGPlanet will now redouble their efforts to give us the best experience we can get as long as they are able to make a viable income from it. Hopefully the days of no content and endless cash grabs that was a standard for much of 2009 come to an end and we get more quality additions. They don't have much more room for error.
The fact that EST Soft declined to renew there contract with OGPlanet tells me that it was clearly nowhere near as popular as some people would have led others to believe. When you are running a business you don't tend to sever ties with a product that is actively making you a decent profit.
EST Soft decided it it was a sinking ship and that they should cut there losses and move on.
A sound business decision, imho.
Here's the link showing that EST will take the game in house and that all NA players that wish to continue can pick up from where they left off if they wish.
Hope the people who lost hope can be happy to know they can play Cabal again if they want.
www.cabalonline.net/Default.aspx
This announcement proved an interesting fact of life to myself:
My care of a Free-To-Play MMO being created is exactly equal to my care of one being shutdown. Zero.
Life truths are rare to come by. This is a good day.
OGplanet is quite famus for not wanting to follow the game owners rules at time, this is what happened to Pangya and why Ogplanet lost the license for Pangya as well.
I wouldn't be supprised it's the same for this title as well.
I am more surprised it lasted this long,i guess that HAVE to fulfill their contract o the end.It is a game really catered to young kids that are looking for a free ride,i doubt there was much use of the item mall.That is the true reality of F2P games,if they don't make any money they will not stick around.I see a few others to follow soon their contract is up.ROM is one and i recently took a peek at SRO and noticed the servers are now relatively empty,it is amazing since i guess they are actually clearing out all the botters.However with so few actual players on each server,i doubt the item mal lis making any money,soon they release their SRO 2,i see sro 1 going down.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
We have updated the story, thanks.
Stopped playing once i got my force blademaster to level 80 that and my friend bailed on me for some other mmo.
Isn't there suppose to be a Cabal 2 coming out anyway?
Well this story is confusing to say the least
OGPlanet loses control over CABAL yet the game isn't really shutting down just changing to control within the developer...
You cared enough to post this however...
Quotations Those Who make peaceful resolutions impossible, make violent resolutions inevitable. John F. Kennedy
Life... is the shit that happens while you wait for moments that never come - Lester Freeman
Lie to no one. If there 's somebody close to you, you'll ruin it with a lie. If they're a stranger, who the fuck are they you gotta lie to them? - Willy Nelson
Sure they do. OGPlanet seems to be the issue here. And the talks of them going in-house are rumored all over the net which means if could or might not happen, but time will see. I enjoyed this game when I played it a year ago but dont play anymore.
OGPlanet is losing more and more of their games so im sure there is an issue with the company/management if they are considering going in-house, which is smarter and less worries, since from their business model/profit from 2009, they have the funds to do so, which means, it isnt a sinking ship yet.