The long-popular MMORPG Last Chaos is leaving the German and hotly debated publisher Gamigo. By the end of February, the game will not be accessible through Gamigo. However, they are developing a brilliant plan to keep players – gifts in RIFT.
What will happen to Last Chaos? The MMORPG Last Chaos is a true Gamigo classic. Since 2007, the German publisher has had the game under its wing. But that time is coming to an end, as the publisher Fawkes Games will take over Last Chaos by the end of February.
Game data from existing accounts will be retained, but only if the accounts are properly transferred. Any real currency still on users’ accounts should be spent beforehand.
This marks the end of an era for the MMORPG at Gamigo. But instead of mourning, the publisher tries to prevent Last Chaos players from leaving. At several points, Gamigo advertises not to transfer the account at all. Instead, they encourage simply playing RIFT.
What exactly is Gamigo trying? Already in the first news from Gamigo regarding the closure of Last Chaos, a certain undertone can be discerned. The publisher describes the next steps and explains how to transfer accounts to the new partner Fawkes Games.
However, the article ends with Gamigo promoting certain “beginner offers”. These can likely be snagged if you decide not to transfer your account, hence no longer play Last Chaos (via gamigo.com).
RIFT was once supposed to be a “WoW killer,” just like 4 other titles:
Gamigo is eager for Last Chaos fans, advertising with gifts
What else is Gamigo doing? Via email, the publisher goes even further. There’s an interesting email for Last Chaos players with the large headline “Come to RIFT, we have gifts.” In this, the end of Last Chaos is mentioned only in the first sentence, followed by a promotion for the MMORPG RIFT, which is still running under Gamigo.
Additionally, the publisher promises a ton of gifts if players start playing RIFT in February. It seems like they want to get rid of Last Chaos, but desperately hold onto the players.
How is this being received? Even RIFT players find the action controversial. They are generally not fond of Gamigo as a publisher and seize every opportunity to express this. In a reddit post discussing the email in question, this is no different.
Comments range from “Well, at least it’s advertising?” to “Imagine finally getting released from Gamigo, and you leave it to continue with Gamigo. It’s like finally being released from prison but trying out another cell first.”
BrundleBee receives the most upvotes for the comment: “They want to lure players from a game they have killed to a game they are currently killing.”
Gamigo is criticized for the handling of RIFT – “It was a great game, but it’s not anymore.”
What is happening with RIFT? Even the MMORPG RIFT, to which Gamigo wants to bring the Last Chaos fans, is currently under harsh criticism. Specifically, it is the publisher, not the game itself, that is being criticized.
The core of these criticisms is that the MMORPG has been running in some kind of “maintenance mode” since Gamigo took over. This means that substantive updates are hardly released anymore. Fans are strongly complaining that Gamigo is simply letting the game run down as long as it is still profitable.
This opinion is also reflected in the Steam reviews of RIFT. Overall, 74% of reviews are positive, yet looking at recent ratings, only 65% of people give a thumbs up, and even they don’t always mean it positively.
What are the fans saying? They express themselves negatively even in positive comments. If you look at the Steam page of RIFT, a clear picture quickly emerges:
- Endless writes a positive review after 759 hours in the game but adds the short yet poignant comment: “RIFT is good, Gamigo is not good.”
- BeyondFubar cannot recommend the MMORPG after 3,473 hours and states: “I don’t have a game that I have spent more hours on. It was better than WoW and even the endgame was really good, but eventually, it went downhill. They have ruined about 80% of the game and just stopped trying. It is slowly but surely becoming a ghost town.”
- TrumpWon says after almost 30 hours: “Gamigo is where games die. It was once a great game, but it’s not anymore.”
- BcJazz recommends RIFT after 334 hours: “I like the game, but it has two major problems. Too few players and Gamigo. Seriously, if RIFT were in the hands of a publisher that would accept one or two years of lower revenue, providing regular updates and new content, the MMORPG would thrive. But under Gamigo, it will eventually die.”
Are you still playing RIFT? If so, what do you think of Gamigo and the current situation? Have you played Last Chaos? If so, how are you handling your account? Feel free to share in the comments here on MeinMMO.
For MeinMMO author Mark Sellner, Last Chaos was his first MMORPG, but after trying it again after 15 years, he immediately regretted it.
