If preserving MMORPGs is your jam, 2023 was not a great year. The one nice thing I can say about it is that we didn’t lose too many massive MMOs, which isn’t always a given, but the list of sunsets is a long one, as you’re about to see as I’m rounding up all of them as is tradition here around the dawn of a new year.
Most notable on the list for MMORPG players is certainly the abrupt closure of Swords of Legends Online, the final implosion of The Repopulation, and the frustrating end for Gloria Victis after a decade of early access. We also saw the death of ArcheAge Unchained (though ArcheAge lives) and of course the complete collapse of all things World of Warcraft in China – with no respite in sight.
o7, old friends.
Deathverse: Let It Die announces that it will suspend services in July
Level 5’s Fantasy Life Online is shutting down for good next month
Kingshunt has shut down its servers for what the developers are claiming will be further development
Kickstarted sandbox MMO The Repopulation is apparently dead as Idea Fabrik’s contracted dev team quits
The MOP Up: Final Fantasy Record Keeper meets its finality
Stadia offers one last game to subscribers in the form of Worm Game
Fractured should be back in February as Gamigo shrinks to just a quarter of its 2020 portfolio
One of Ubisoft’s canceled games was a PvP team battle arena dubbed Project Q
Square Enix-published Marvel’s Avengers is ending official support this fall
EA is sunsetting Apex Legends Mobile, canceling Battlefield mobile game
Rumbleverse and Knockout City announce sunsets, Back 4 Blood announces maintenance mode
World of Warcraft is shutting down its integrated Twitter posting feature
Hearthstone’s Mercenaries mode will get one last major patch that adds new mercs, mechanics, and endgame
Mobile co-op multiplayer RPG Echoes of Mana announces a May 15 sunset
Natural Selection 2 enters maintenance mode, Spellbreak returns as an official ‘community version’
RF Online’s western version has been sunsetted thanks to an apparent contract issue
Square-Enix’s Babylon’s Fall went out with the wimpiest of whimpers
Kakao’s mobile MMO Moonlight Sculptor is closing down in May after less than two years online
After 14 years, Enjin drops guild site building tools in favor of blockchain and NFT tech
Multiplayer time-looping strategy FPS Lemnis Gate announces its July 11 sunset
EA is sunsetting another trio of online games from the Battlefield IP
Early access retro PvP MMORPG Leafling Online has sunsetted over waning interest
CCP Games is already sunsetting EVE Anywhere after just a year in the wild
LOTRO’s Shadowfax server nears the end of its run, offers free character transfers
Valofe shuts down free-to-play econ and politics-focused MMO Luminary Rise of the GoonZu
Vampire battle royale Bloodhunt confirms it’s entering maintenance mode because of a lack of players
Seafaring MMO Rulers of the Sea and its development studio announce their closure
Gameforge is sunsetting Swords of Legends Online not quite two years after launch
Marvel’s Avengers coasts toward its end with a final patch that unlocks everything
The Daily Grind: Would you prefer maintenance mode or sunsets for your favorite MMOs?
Funcom has unceremoniously axed Advisors of Rubi-Ka, Anarchy Online’s player volunteer program
The Realm Online is shuttering its rebooted version at the end of June
Pokemon Go’s top datamining community site announces ‘soft shutdown’ over Niantic’s antics
MultiVersus’ beta has closed down, but still can be played offline for the time being
The Cycle Frontier will sunset in September owing to financial inviability
Niantic lays off 230 workers, affecting Pokemon Go, in cost-slashing reorganization
So now The Realm Online is apparently being sold to an undisclosed new studio
Call of Duty: Warzone 1.0, Forza Horizon 1, and Forza Horizon 2 all receive their execution notices
The Realm Online’s corporate buyer surfaces with a bizarre website and studio partner
Niantic is sunsetting Marvel World of Heroes after all – tomorrow, in fact
The Soapbox: The day my son lost his first online video game to a sunset
Bandai-Namco will sunset Gundam Evolution after barely a year
Kakao partially denies report that ArcheAge will sunset following XLGAMES restructure
Iron Realms puts two of its MUDs into maintenance mode including Starmourn
Electronic Arts announces online server shutdowns for three more of its games
Kakao is effectively sunsetting ArcheAge Unchained, merging it into two remaining western ArcheAge servers
Albion Online is killing off its Crystal League Championship PvP tournaments in spite of 300K daily players
Indie MMO Gloria Victis and its studio are shutting down on Halloween after a decade online
Veteran games studio Volition is shuttered as part of Embracer’s restructuring
The Daily Grind: When has an MMO shutdown notice truly shocked you?
Evercore Heroes shutters North American server after cutting team and entering maintenance mode
Embracer Group is killing off Flying Wild Hog’s Jagex-pubbed Space Punks
Tencent’s battle royale shooter Ring of Elysium will sunset in December
Rumor: EA will stop supporting Wild Hearts just half a year after release
The Cycle Frontier sunsets today as studio YAGER says goodbye to players, literally
Wildcard sunsets ARK Survival Evolved official servers, confirms no Steam cross-play at ARK Ascended’s launch
Star Trek Online is discontinuing its 3-D-printed ship partnership with Gameprint
MMO Business Roundup: BioWare lawsuit, Nintendo multiplayer sunset, Twitch layoffs
Sega’s cancelled PvPvE shooter Hyenas was reportedly a doomed project from the very start
Ubisoft and EA deprecate a dozen multiplayer games, including Star Wars Battlefront II of ‘pride and accomplishment’ fame
PvP MMO Gloria Victis has officially sunsetted as Siege Survival Gloria Victis marches on
Cinderstone Online has apparently sunsetted after just two months as devs plan F2P relaunch
One More Game ends dev on multiplayer battler Spellcraft after failing to find a ‘financially viable’ prototype
CCP Games finally ends official support of the long-neglected EVE Portal mobile app
Nexon’s early access 5v5 action shooter Veiled Experts will sunset December 14
ArcheAge and ArcheAge Unchained officially merged this morning, sending Unchained into its last sunset
Team vs. team hero FPS Gundam Evolution has unfortunately sunsetted
Ubisoft’s 2014 racing game The Crew 1 is sunsetting in March 2024
Naughty Dog cancels The Last of Us Online owing to ‘the massive scope of [its] ambition’
Revelation Online will sunset on March 13, 2024
The Day Before Steam keys go for three figures on the grey market as Fntastic announces server closures
Superhero card battler DC Dual Force surrenders to a shutdown
