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LEGO® Universe to close in 2012

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« on: November 04, 2011, 02:01:52 pm »

Shocking news has come to us today.

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Online game will close on January 31, 2012. The LEGO Group’s digital offerings will continue to develop over the coming years.

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.

This is not a place to rant, rave, or say "I told you so", nor should it be a place to debate why the game was good or bad. Please use this as an opportunity to discuss what you are going to do in the wake of it, and how the game has affected you. share your memories and adventures!

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« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2011, 03:07:18 pm »

...... Cry

If only there was something we could do.
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« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2011, 03:28:20 pm »

...... Cry

If only there was something we could do.
Crushinator, over on Lunibook, who was a Programmer for the game, has informed us that the team has already been released. What has happened has happened. I wish we could do something, but theres not much to do. I know for my sake, I'm going to take loads of pictures and videos of my favorite properties.
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« Reply #3 on: November 04, 2011, 03:57:13 pm »

Talk to Dolnor.. there is a way to record it!
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« Reply #4 on: November 04, 2011, 04:22:00 pm »

Talk to Dolnor.. there is a way to record it!
Hmm? You mean video? I know how to do that. I also plan on grouping my models into one huge one, (haha, lets see how that goes) And then it will save onto my computer. This way, I can open them up on digital designer, and have a 3d model forever!
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« Reply #5 on: November 04, 2011, 04:24:15 pm »

OH.. save to LDD.. how does that work??
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« Reply #6 on: November 04, 2011, 04:39:34 pm »

Sim, SamiraiMaster, and acouple other folks have a tool that will let you save your properties to LDD as-is.  They're workking out the bugs now.
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« Reply #7 on: November 04, 2011, 04:45:04 pm »

OH.. save to LDD.. how does that work??
All of the custom models you load in LU are saved onto your hard drive deep in the program folder. If you can fish them out, they are there. Kind of hard to tell whats what, because the file names are crypic... But if what Flipz says is true, this might prove to be a simpler solution!

I feel for all the new LUPs, who were recently accepted, but now have no chance of adding anything...
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« Reply #8 on: November 04, 2011, 04:51:16 pm »

I wonder if there is the opportunity to have sponsors save the game somehow?
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« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2011, 04:53:47 pm »

And I stand by my suggestion in CtaM. It's not like TF2 was the first game to go with that business, either, it's just the only one I know of that originally cost money and then changed.

Plus I had read the article recently so it was easy to find statistics.

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« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2011, 05:57:05 pm »

Sim, SamiraiMaster, and acouple other folks have a tool that will let you save your properties to LDD as-is.  They're workking out the bugs now.
Post a link to it?
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« Reply #11 on: November 04, 2011, 06:10:04 pm »

What I really find hard.. Is that they had an interview with the Developers a week ago! And they said it was going great! So either the Marketing team was keeping this from them, or they just realized it now...
Edit: The later is sort of true,
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Hi guys,

Yes, it's true, yes the news is terrible. I'm truly very sorry, and my heart goes out to all of you guys.

As Crushinator says, this decision was made by people much higher up the chain than the Developers. We all found out this morning and were just as shocked as you all.

We had so many exciting things in store in 2012... as well as really good news for Australians/New Zealand that I couldn't wait to announce soon.

LEGO Universe has been an amazing ride. You guys are awesome - keep building, and keep gaming. 

Figgy
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« Reply #12 on: November 04, 2011, 06:38:25 pm »

regardless of the profit margins, i think this was a bad move for lego. no one will be in a rush to try whatever they come up with next (as far as big online games go), because they killed of their first attempt so early.

if i had the time and money i'd buy LU, (free to play just wasn't enough for me to bother) and i'd be really PO'd if i found out they're shutting it down.

they're going to alienate customers.  pity, seemed like a good game.
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« Reply #13 on: November 04, 2011, 07:11:12 pm »

regardless of the profit margins, i think this was a bad move for lego. no one will be in a rush to try whatever they come up with next (as far as big online games go), because they killed of their first attempt so early.

if i had the time and money i'd buy LU, (free to play just wasn't enough for me to bother) and i'd be really PO'd if i found out they're shutting it down.

they're going to alienate customers.  pity, seemed like a good game.
Good point. It would be very hard to trust in their "next big project"... I really want to know what it was that caused this... I really hope LEGO doesn't take this as a clue to stay out of online games, I thought the Building had a ton of potential, but no very many people used it due to the bugs and time it took. Now if they released a free, or even very minor subscription based thing, where you could load your LDD models online, and play in them with a minifigure, and share, I would so buy that.
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« Reply #14 on: November 04, 2011, 08:02:14 pm »

I wonder if there is the opportunity to have sponsors save the game somehow?

Too late.  Most of the 115 people working for LU have cleared out their desks already.  mederation is being run by a skeleton crew. Undecided  Cry Cry

regardless of the profit margins, i think this was a bad move for lego. no one will be in a rush to try whatever they come up with next (as far as big online games go), because they killed of their first attempt so early.

if i had the time and money i'd buy LU, (free to play just wasn't enough for me to bother) and i'd be really PO'd if i found out they're shutting it down.

they're going to alienate customers.  pity, seemed like a good game.
Good point. It would be very hard to trust in their "next big project"... I really want to know what it was that caused this... I really hope LEGO doesn't take this as a clue to stay out of online games, I thought the Building had a ton of potential, but no very many people used it due to the bugs and time it took. Now if they released a free, or even very minor subscription based thing, where you could load your LDD models online, and play in them with a minifigure, and share, I would so buy that.

I'd rather Lego just released LU open-source.  It would make SO much more sense than a mere shutdown; if the fans really want to play LU, let them run it themselves.  They certainly wouldn't lose any more money that way than they would by shutting it down entirely.

And, as much as I like your idea, I've lost most of my respect for Lego.  I really thought Lego would pull through in the end, that it'd be a lifetime hobby that would serve as a unifying theme throughout my life.  But now...I went to play with my MBA stuff, just to clear my head and try to enjoy something.  Instead, I was totally uninspired, and I got a sick feeling in my stomach as I...stuck a bunch of plastic lumps together.  Honestly, that's what it felt like I was doing; not "building."  I had the urge to pull out my Bradford Rant Pod and look at it, and that actually sent me to the restroom for the better part of an hour.  Maybe I'm still dealing with the shock and pain of the announcement, but Lego has become something totally foreign to me.  Maybe I'll get that part of me back.  Maybe not.  But today I've lost the single most integral part of my existence since moving back to California from Japan.  A part that, once again, formed my sole means of continual social interaction when I had to move again several months ago.  A part of my identity--no, a HUGE part--has been stripped away, and I'm left feeling lifeless and purposeless.  No matter all the opinions I express, and the ideas I put forth to try and change things, there is no escaping the awful truth.  LU is gone, maybe not right this second, but it's no longer a part of the future, and without it, I have no clue where mine will lead.  I have nothing.  I am nothing.  I am now faced with a choice: reinvent myself, tearing away all that I once was and beginning anew in an uncertain new world, or cling to the old, and fade into oblivion and mediocrity with the swift passage of time.

And at this moment, I'm not sure which choice I'll take.
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« Reply #15 on: November 04, 2011, 08:09:29 pm »

i assume this is something that's been building up for a long time, and this was the final straw?
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« Reply #16 on: November 04, 2011, 08:12:21 pm »

this is very sad news, especially because it was finally going to be released here soon...
i think they should let the lups take over. 
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« Reply #17 on: November 04, 2011, 08:14:54 pm »

Yeah...ever since the move, I haven't been able to enjoy anything; whenever I get even a taste of happiness, I get punched in the gut.  LU was my lifeline, and now... *snip*

Maybe there's something...somewhere out there for me.  But right now I can't see it, and maybe I don't want to.  Maybe I need time to heal.  But time marches on, and there's no rest for the weary.  This is my world.  This is my life.  Such as is is, and so it shall be.  I search for words, but there are none, so I seek the solace of song...
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« Reply #18 on: November 04, 2011, 08:17:07 pm »

poor guy Undecided

ihave some advice for you, let's take this to PM, ok?
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And when I'm through with it, it's gonna blow a hole this wide
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« Reply #19 on: November 04, 2011, 08:25:59 pm »

This kind of trauma is not easy on kids. Or adults. We are like a huge drove of suddenly displaced workers. But worse, because of the social aspects of LU.
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