WildStar seemed like it could be a breath of fresh air for the MMO genre when it was announced in 2011, but it just wasn’t to be. By the time the game released in 2014, traditional MMOs had fallen by the wayside, and it didn’t take long to see that the game was in trouble. A year after release, WildStar transitioned from the subscription model to a free-to-play one, and plans surfaced that developer Carbine Studios wanted to transition the game to other markets, like China, where the MMO genre is still thriving.
Those never materialized, several employees were laid off, and WildStar has been floundering ever since. And now, Kotaku reports that parent company NCsoft is officially closing down Carbine Studios, and their MMO is collateral damage – it will be closing down in the near future.
A statement from NCsoft reads: “Today, we are closing Carbine Studios and will begin the process of winding WildStar down to ultimately shutter the game. WildStar players who have spent money within the game will be refunded purchases from July 1, 2018 until the payment system is shut off. We are also in the process of identifying the teams that will be doing the work to bring WildStar to a close. These decisions are very difficult to make and we are in the midst of shifting as many of our teammates as possible into other roles within the organization.”
Fifty people will lose their jobs as a result of the shutdown.
Carbine Studios was founded by former members of the World of Warcraft team at Blizzard. WildStar had received good critical reviews, but it was never able to catch on with audiences in a way that could allow it to compete with the big dogs in the genre. As of this writing, the game is still running, but it will not be for long. Get your Warparties together for some final battles while you still can.