Jagex has confirmed that it has closed its 8Realms MMO while in the beta stage, due to not meeting expectations.
“During the 8Realms beta it has become clear that the game doesn’t meet our high expectations for success and we are therefore channelling our focus on other exciting opportunities in the pipeline,” said Jagex’s Daniel Clough.
Develop is reporting that the 8Realms beta only got 10 percent of the user numbers needed for profit. There are also reports that some staff will be laid off because of the MMO’s closure, while others will be moved into different departments within the company.
Jakster123x
Ouch. Never heard of a game being cancelled due to a disappointing beta before.
Hope the guys who’re laid off find jobs elsewhere very soon.
Jim Hargreaves
Was actually interested in this a while back.
There are just too many F2P/browser/MMO games on the go at the moment. No complaints from me, but unfortunately they can’t all get the same attention.