So many on-line video games have shut down to date in 2023 that we’ve already needed to do a roundup, and it’s solely February. Which implies masses extra are going to satisfy comparable fates over the following 10 months, and the following two to satisfy their demise are Pure Choice 2 and Spellbreak.
The builders of Pure Choice 2, which has been operating for 10 years, introduced earlier immediately they might be ceasing “energetic improvement” on the sport, however not totally shutting down. As a substitute, whereas they transfer onto different initiatives they’ll be leaving the lights on (emphasis mine):
10 years since its official launch and over 117 updates later, energetic improvement of Pure Choice 2 has ended.
Our workforce and this group have offered a few years of ardour and assist for this recreation. Through the years we had the chance to satisfy and collaborate with so a lot of you whether or not at an expo, dwell match, Discord or enjoying on a server. We thanks in your assist and dedication to NS2 and know that this recreation wouldn’t have been the identical with out you. Now it’s time to look to the long run and proceed on to different initiatives inside the firm.
Whereas we gained’t be actively engaged on NS2, we’ll nonetheless proceed to host matched play servers in order that group members will be capable to play video games on-demand with different gamers or bots.
Though this isn’t goodbye, we nonetheless want to say a really heartfelt thanks to you, our group and to all of those who labored with us on Pure Choice 2 over time.
A lot love and appreciation,
The UWE NS2 Workforce
Whereas it’s all the time unhappy for followers when a recreation winds up like this, loads of them simply need to have the ability to nonetheless play the factor, so it’s good to see builders Unknown Worlds leaving some servers up for folks to take pleasure in.
As for Spellbreak, we knew its finish had been coming way back to June 2022, however it lastly got here immediately, with the sport being delisted on Steam. That’s the dangerous information, although; the excellent news is that the sport will dwell on, because the builders have “created a standalone model the place gamers can host their very own servers, play with their mates, and discover the game-space at their very own tempo.”
That’s nice! That’s even higher than leaving some servers up, as a result of as John Carmack mentioned final week, it’s the very best case state of affairs for when official assist for a web based recreation winds up. By releasing the sport into the winds, and releasing it from the constraints of shopfronts and on-line platforms, followers can preserve enjoying it for so long as there are followers, and even when there aren’t anymore, the sport can nonetheless be preserved for future generations.