LEGO Universe Game Game Will Shut Down on Jan 31, 2012

[Toys N Bricks]

The LEGO Group has sent us the following press release earlier this morning. Its unfortunate, but it looks like the LEGO Universe Online Mutiplayer Game will be shutting down on January 31st, 2012.

LEGO Universe Video Game (55000)


November 4, 2011 – The LEGO Group today announced that it will close LEGO® Universe, an MMOG (massively-multiplayer online game) that has been in operation since the autumn of 2010.

In spite of very positive player feedback and a large number of players in the free play zone, it has not been possible to convert a satisfactory number of players to paying subscribers. It has therefore been decided to close the game as of January 31, 2012.

“The LEGO Universe team can take pride in having developed and launched a great LEGO experience that many players will miss,” said Jesper Vilstrup, Vice President, LEGO Universe. “Right now, we have almost 2 million players in LEGO Universe, and we get extremely positive feedback from players. Unfortunately, we have not been able to build a satisfactory revenue model in our target group, and therefore, have decided to close the game.”

Despite the change, the ambition to develop and run a digital business remains. In future, it is the intention to further pursue cooperation with partners. The LEGO Group has a strong and continuing partnership with TT Games & Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to create digital LEGO experiences within video games. A further expansion in the digital area will mainly be based on similar partnerships.

“The development of our digital offerings continues to be a very important element in our strategy,” said Mads Nipper, Executive Vice President, LEGO Group. “We have more than 20 million visitors on www.LEGO.com every month, and LEGO video games are among the bestselling children’s video games with sales of more than 60 million units in the last five years. Through our experience developing and running LEGO Universe, we have gained a lot of valuable insights, and we have a very strong foundation for future development in the digital area.”

As a consequence of the closure, the LEGO Universe staff has today been informed that the ‘Play Well Studios’ in Louisville, Colorado and the game’s marketing function in Billund, Denmark will be closed. This will affect 115 employees. All affected employees will be offered assistance in finding new jobs inside or outside the LEGO Group.

Article Link: http://toysnbricks.com/lego-universe-ga ... n-31-2012/

[anthonyj8]

This is certainly terrible news for everyone, especially because of all the workers will be laid off.
So enjoy this game while you can, because unlike in reality, The Universe is limited.

[Linkage]

The game seems like it could have been more successful (financially) if it had some sort of microtransaction model but was esentially free to play. With the ways they could do tie in, it seems like it would be hard NOT to make it financially viable.

[dr_spock]

That's not good news. I wonder if I'll get a refund from the unused portion of my subscription?

[BrickWild]

I was looking forward to getting this game for Christmas last year, yet another dream that will never be brought to life! RIP Lego Universe!

[Brickbuilder0937]

Shutting down LEGO Universe this soon was somewhat foreseeable as they kept reducing the price for the game, extending the free trial period, adding a free to play zone and more recently the subscription was reduced to only $10 a month. All in all not too surprising.

[gabriellee11]

Now 2 MMOG will be shutting down in the next months Star Wars Galaxies and Lego Universe...I guess all of them will end up playing SWTOR...SWTOR seems that will be getting a lot of players

[bigtrainfan]

Now 2 MMOG will be shutting down in the next months Star Wars Galaxies and Lego Universe...I guess all of them will end up playing SWTOR...SWTOR seems that will be getting a lot of players

Oh yeah, I forgot about SWTOR. Guess my MMO life won't be over when LU closes, as I'll be able to afford SWTOR once it does.

Shame though that LU is closing. It's one of my favorite games to play, and I've got lots of great friends on there. Hope we can stay in touch through other games.

[vynsane]

What I did get to play in F2P was fun. I had hoped for the chance to subscribe once my life was a bit less hectic. Hopefully there will be some replacement with a better business model in the future.

dr_spock - I, too, wondered about currently active subscriptions - a refund of any outstanding play time would be even a bigger financial hit... Perhaps they chose January 31 because the least amount of subscriptions would be active (purely conjecture). I'd have to venture that everyone will receive refunds for any unused gameplay.

[BrickWild]

It's the final month, so all owners of LU will have to play more frequently before it's closing time!