When it comes to free-to-play games, they have an expiration date on them. They don't last forever. That's become apparent with the number of shutdowns taking place with certain free-to-play games, including, now, two of Ubisoft's titles.
According to Game Informer, Ubisoft has detailed the shutting down of both Ghost Recon Phantoms and The Mighty Quest For Epic Loot. The two free-to-play games did not perform as well as Ubisoft had hoped, so they're closing up shop. The good news (if you want to call it that) is that despite the games shutting down, the developers will filter into different sections of Ubisoft instead of being laid off.
As for the games no longer being playable, Ghost Recon Phantoms will officially shut down on December 1st while The Mighty Quest For Epic Loot will stop functioning on October 25th.
Over on the Ubisoft forums, there's a Q&A post with frequently asked questions from the community regarding the shut down of the free-to-play version of Ghost Recon. They make it known that you will not get refunds for the money invested into the game and that according to their terms of service, refunds are "not possible".
They also address questions regarding private servers and independent, dedicated hosting options, where they make it known that they will not be facilitating, or allowing, private servers to operate Ghost Recon Phantoms.
They clearly lay out in the post exactly why the game has to be closed, stating...
Unfortunately, GRP was not as successful as we had hoped for, so we had to make the decision to close the game. This decision wasn't easy for us and we tried to find other ways. But in the end we decided to close the game and focus on other projects.
The Mighty Quest For Epic Loot was in the exact same boat as Ghost Recon. They explain that it's no longer possible to purchase cash shop items and that users will have up to 60 days to spend their virtual currency. No refunds are being offered for the game.
If you enjoyed it and are hoping for a sequel, maybe not in a disposal free-to-play form, you're in for a rude awakening. According to the website for The Mighty Quest For Epic Loot, Ubisoft states that there will be no sequels for the game...
Ubisoft is currently working on a lot of different projects, but it's unlikely that a sequel for the Mighty Quest for Epic Loot will be developed.
This happens often with free-to-play games, where even if they have a solid audience sometimes they don't turn enough of a profit for the company to sustain their operation. It's unfortunate because some games like City of Heroes and City of Villains have truly dedicated communities surrounding the game, but all of that has to go away when the company closes down the servers. For any game that relies on online servers to operate, this is sadly the fate that these games will suffer.
You will have up until October and December to play both games before the servers shut down for good.
32 '90s Sitcoms You Might Have Forgotten About
Will Smith Jokes He Doesn't 'Even Like Baby Oil' While Distancing Himself From All Those Diddy Freak Off Memes
Trent Reznor Reveals Exactly Why He Prefers Making Movie Soundtracks To The Music Biz, And He Does Not Hold Back: 'The Culture Of The Music World Sucks'
