Back in 2019 we highlighted Rulers of the Sea, an MMO in development by Dutch studio Deadeye Games set in the seafaring real world, circa 1750. The promising title was looking to incorporate 152 nations with their own governance and navies, while players could take up 40 distinct activities and would have to level up by completing an in-game university course.
During the intervening years, Deadeye Games kept providing progress reports on development as it pondered which game engine to use, noted a partnership with an MMO dev company called Argentics, and opened an investor campaign this past March. Unfortunately, all of its efforts ended up being for naught, as earlier this month Deadeye announced the end of the project’s development and the full shutdown of its studio.
“We spent many years of work on the project, unpaid, and also funded half of the cost ourselves. For the other half there were supporters that purchased pre-subscription packs and gamer shares. But most important, we received lots of support in contributions and interest from the community. So disappointment will be wide-spread. Know that we share this disappointment with you.
“It has been a years-long effort to try and get enough funding for this ambitious project. We have always said we regarded it a fifty/fifty chance of success. For us it is now time to stop the effort and face up to the fact that we will not be the people to achieve it.”
The remaining capital that Deadeye has available to it will be used to pay for the costs of dissolving the company and reimburse those who purchased gamer shares, while the rights, social media, forums, and assets of the game itself will be available for purchase “for a symbolic amount.” The rest of the blog digests where the project went wrong and thanked followers for their support.
