The builder MMO Landmark is shutting down. The offspring of Everquest Next didn’t even last a year.
Everquest Next was supposed to be the next big thing in the MMORPG market. However, it was already canceled during development. As a “playable alpha and toolbox” to EQ Next, Landmark existed for a long time. Here, players could already build and tinker, having access to the tools that the “real developers” were supposed to have for Everquest Next.
The game remained in a closed beta for an eternity. Access could be purchased through founder packages. It had a bit of a “get a taste of the future air of EQ Next.”
After the end of Everquest Next, Landmark was released last year without much fanfare, without previously transitioning to a long-awaited open beta. The release on June 10 then caused shaking of heads. The sense of Landmark without an Everquest Next simply eluded most.
Landmark was launched as a budget title for $10. The release was already quiet, and not much has been heard from Landmark since then.
Now it’s all over, on February 21, Landmark will go offline along with all forums and social media channels for the game. Even now, Landmark is no longer listed on Steam and it is not being sold.
Everquest and Everquest 2 continue to run.
Everquest Next: The sad chapter of MMO history comes to an end
My MMO thinks: Everquest Next is generally a sad story. In retrospect, Landmark probably should have been quietly buried along with Everquest Next. The release of Landmark in June 2016 could have been spared. It likely didn’t bring in much money and harmed Daybreak’s reputation.
The release of Landmark as an anticipated stillborn didn’t make a good impression back then, and in retrospect, even less so. Games that linger in development for so long, where access can be purchased for expensive money and then fizzle out … this justifies critics of such “Early Access” and “sandbox development” systems.
It would have been fair to refund the founders their money – as is common with failed crowdfunding projects. Admittedly, Landmark was not a crowdfunding project. The mechanisms were similar, though. One invests in a future one believes in and hopes for.
Appropriate to the topic:
