The new sandbox MMORPG Fractured Online will be shutting down on January 31, 2023, at least for now. The Early Access phase on Steam and the private servers need to be taken offline in order to work on the game again without it running. Why is that?
What is going on with Fractured? The new sandbox MMORPG Fractured Online only launched on September 15 in Early Access on Steam. On January 31, just under 4 months after the launch, this phase must now be canceled again. Recently, Fractured only had 23 players on Steam. However, that does not seem to be the problem.
The developers, Dynmight Studios, cite issues with third-party platforms that provide their servers as the reason for the shutdown. They explain in a statement that they do not want to rely on server hosts in the future and intend to publish the game on their own servers.
For this to happen, the game must first go completely offline. This will occur on January 31, 2023.
What does this mean for the players? Players will first have to say goodbye to all their progress because the servers will be completely wiped with the shutdown. This is referred to as a “wipe.” This is not unusual for games in Early Access, though it is frustrating.
Aside from that, Fractured Online will no longer be available for purchase until the issues are resolved. In a statement from the developers on their own Discord, the CEO wrote on December 23 at around 6:00 PM that all sales for Fractured would be halted throughout the day.
As of today, December 24 at 12:00 PM, the MMORPG is still available for purchase, but this will likely not be the case much longer.
Whether there will be compensation or refunds for already sold keys remains unclear at this time. The developers have not yet commented on that.
This stylish trailer was released for the Early Access launch of Fractured:
Trouble with German Publisher May Be the Cause
What is meant by third-party platforms? On December 22, we reported that the German publisher Gamigo had to part ways with some MMORPGs. The names mentioned include Last Chaos, Shaiya, and others, but not Fractured Online, which was also launched with Gamigo.
At the same time as the announcement of Fractured, the game also disappeared from the publisher’s website. Gamigo has not yet released a statement on this, but fans suspect that the two events are directly related.
The developers of Fractured remain “deliberately vague” in their statements due to “legal reasons.” So it is not officially Gamigo’s fault, but much suggests that it is. It has only been confirmed that it is not an issue with the game engine SpatialOS.
Big Changes When the MMORPG Returns
What will happen next with Fractured? The MMORPG is definitely set to return as soon as a suitable server structure is in place. The developers explain that a lot of new content is also planned to launch thereafter.
A portion of the employees are working on the move to the new server, while much of the team is still focused on producing new content. Thus, Fractured will receive its largest update yet with the relaunch.
This will focus on winning players back and improving the quality of life in the game. Additionally, the continent Myr will be completely removed, as it is simply too empty and boring, according to the game’s CEO on Discord.
A roadmap for 2023 will also follow as soon as the currently somewhat chaotic situation stabilizes, according to a statement from the developers. We at MeinMMO will of course keep you updated on the situation of Fractured Online.
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