LEGO Universe ending in 2012Nov 4, 2011 - ShacknewsThe brick-based MMO LEGO Universe will be shutting its plastic doors in January of 2012, NetDevil announced today. The company didn't pull any punches in specifying the reason for the closure: the free-to-play zone was plenty popular, but the game just didn't attract enough paying subscribers to sustain it. The game's final day will be on January 31, 2012. Lego Universe Unfortunately, this also means layoffs. Play Well Studios in Louisville Colorado and the marketing office in Billund, Denmark will both be closed, affecting 115 employees. The company says it will offer the displaced workers assistance in finding new positions. "The LEGO Universe team can take pride in having developed and launched a great LEGO experience that many players will miss," said Lego Universe VP Jesper Vilstrup in the announcement. "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." Mads Nipper, executive VP of the Lego Group and reigning champion of the coolest corporate name, says that Lego Universe gave them "valuable insights" that will be put to good use building future digital products. It's growing more and more common to hear of MMOs struggling to maintain subscriber numbers, but a full game shutdown is a more drastic first step than we usually see. Many MMOs opt instead to switch to a fully free-to-play model. DC Universe Online saw great success from making the switch this week, and even World of Warcraft has adopted a quasi-F2P model. LEGO had dabbled in a F2P version that was more like a trial, but hasn't experimented with a fully-free model. Get your block-building antics in while you can. Daily Filter: August 15, 2011Aug 15, 2011 - ShacknewsShacknews receives a slew of new screenshots and trailers for upcoming games everyday. The most anticipated titles receive their own post, because we know you're eager to see that content. For the rest, we have the Daily Filter, a place to feature all of the media we add to our enormous database on a daily basis. Today's Filter features a teaser trailer for Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad, a television spot for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a Gamescom 2011 trailer for Grimlands, a trailer for Rise of Nightmares, a free-to-play trailer for LEGO Universe, a behind-the-scenes trailer for Spider-Man: Edge of Time, and a behind-the-scenes trailer for Just Dance 3. LEGO Universe 'free-to-play' trial incomingJun 21, 2011 - ShacknewsEight months after LEGO Universe launched on PC, the LEGO Group has announced that NetDevil's plastic-inspired MMO is to receive a slimline free-to-play version this August, though it sounds more like a free trial. LEGO Universe Players of the free-to-play version will be limited to two adventure areas and one space for building their own virtual LEGO models with collected bricks. While a free-to-play model typically runs on microtransactions for premium content, LEGO Universe won't offer any such thing, and there are no plans for it either. If players want more than the free version offers, they'll need to go the whole hog and start paying the $10 monthly subscription fee. It's more an endless free trial than a free-to-play version, then. "The LEGO Group remains committed to success in the digital space and to LEGO Universe," said LEGO Group VP Jesper Vilstrup in the announcement. "We see LEGO Universe as a key element for our digital play division, and are adjusting the business model to make the game more accessible to players, without the immediate obligation to purchase or subscribe." To knock down another barrier to entry, players will also no longer be required to purchase a copy of the game. LEGO Universe will be offered as a free download to both those who plan to subscribe and those who simply want to mooch. LEGO Universe launched to a lukewarm reception in October 2010, being a bit too grindy and awkward for some at the time. Still, if it's free and you have a few spare moments in your action-packed life this August, it couldn't hurt too much to give it a bash. Now Available - LEGO UniverseOct 22, 2010 - Product ReleaseLEGO® Universe is now available on Steam. Answer The Call - Save Imagination! Only a courageous team of heroes, the Nexus Force, stand in the way of the destructive Maelstrom... but they need your help! Join the Nexus Force! Push the boundaries of creativity by building your own worlds.
