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Transformers Universe: Jagex & Hasbro Agree to Close the Doors
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Jagex and Hasbro have agreed to shut down Transformers Universe on January 31, 2015. The closure comes about a month after Jagex announced downsizing of the development team, a fairly normal occurrence after a game is released. Jagex will focus on its existing IPs while Hasbro will pursue other game options for the Transformers IP.
"If there are any staffing issues that arise out of this additional level of restructuring, then we will discuss them with the parties concerned first and foremost," a Jagex representative said. "As ever, we will make any possible outcomes public, but only at the appropriate time."
Transformers Universe has entered a maintenance period, and will shut down for good on January 31 next year.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
Comments
Beware of these words... "reaches a new stage of development in its life cycle."
Wonder if they use this same terminology for death row prisoners :-p
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At least that is how I see it. Less room for happy coexistence in MOBAs.
This was a game that released?????????
WOW!
/goes back into his cave where sunshine has to be piped in and ponders........
Yup, and we all know that MOBA is basically where failed MMORPG Projects end up (ie Titan).
So what's a step down from there? Probably some sort of iOS app.
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Instead, it was another piece of trash that could have been found on Junkion.
I guess this is what happens when the primary focus is monetization of the IP, rather than making a game that players will enjoy playing. This is where the old "money-grab" meme comes from...
Hasbro probably doesn't have a clue what the online gaming market is all about, but they probably read one too many of Superdata's reports, and figured they'd hit the mother lode. Jagex probably thought the Transformers IP was a licence to print money. I'd imagine both parties are equally to blame for this failure.
May 1, 2014 Transformer Universe Founders Packs $450
You know what would be awesome War for Cybertron meets Planetside 2 with the character customization of City of Heroes for making a Transformer.
This is pretty bad.
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
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Try a MUD today at http://www.mudconnect.com/Hahah this is the exact game I was thinking would bottom out. Sorry but I remember thinking that the founders pack was way too expensive.. here.. it's more expensive than I even thought... as they're never getting a full product.
@BillMurphy Any word about asking them about what happens to those people who flushed half a grand away on a failure? I mean this is really eye opening. Is there no way to get your money back on this venture?
As a note, it wasn't a "MOBA", but a "MOTA" (Tactical instead of Battle). It was a third-person tab-targeting PVP game or something. They thought they'd throw the "MOBA"/"MOTA" label around to try to cash in on LoL, but it ended up ruining them. It wasn't a MOBA, so MOBA fans tried it and were disappointed, People who want nothing to do with MOBAs stayed away, but those were the ones whom this might have appealed to.
And a $450 Founder's Pack is a great way to broadcast to the world: Bend over, this game is all about harpooning the whales. Whenever I see outrageously nonsensical pricing on an unreleased game, I walk away and never look at it again.
I really liked F2P, but the trends in monetisation schemes are telling me that we need to go back to B2P and, possibly, a sub. I dunno. Having cash shop monetisation driving development is just awful. Even games that started out with not-too-bad F2P scheme, like LotRO and Rfit, eventually morphed into something almost as bad as any gPotato or PerfectWorld disaster.
I can't believe I have to go back and start considering WoW
Always sad to hear about a game closing down.
Although I always thought this one would not last long. But it's still sad to hear.
They're refunding founder packs.
Guess I am not the only one using fiber optic to pipe in sunlight.
Great way to get natural light to those basement grow rooms.
well if they are refunding people then i cant really say anything bad about the situation from the gamer standpoint. kudos to jagex for not pocketing the money and running.
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as for the game itself..... kinda expected.
jagex really hasn't done much other then runescape...which was built on the backs of people that are no longer with the company.
Hasbro has also historically made piss poor decisions aswell... and really only stay afloat because of the 1980s IP merchandising(transformers, GI joe, tonka, my little pony etc), their WotC subsidary(magic the gathering, DnD, etc), and liberal use of chinese labor. as a game/toy company they haven't really done anything new in a good 15-20 years.
in short the whole venture was a recipe for failure from the beginning.
You could tell by logging in once that it was a unfinished product that was just abandoned after a while.
Being a Transformers fan for the past 30 years, I was insulted at the half a!@ery that was that game and the cash shop that was a disgrace to cash shops everywhere. The useless junk in that cash shop that was sold for stupid amounts of money was so disrespectful that it's not even funny.
Jagex just released a new game on steam called Block N' Load that's a voxel pvp game
http://store.steampowered.com/app/299360/
I do give them credit though for deciding to close the game sooner rather than later and not waste peoples time/lives.