The old school MMORPG Gran Skrea Online (PC) is shutting down, just 4 years after it started. The developers explain what happened to the game and how it will proceed after the MMORPG ends. We at MeinMMO summarize.
What kind of game is this? Gran Skrea Online was meant to appeal to the old school community. It relied on a medieval fantasy world and a role-playing concept that you would expect more from older games. Players could distribute their skill points freely and even completely misallocate them.
Furthermore, the game offered the following activities:
- A focus on story and a well-told narrative
- PvE for solo players and groups
- Open-world PvP with full loot, meaning you lose items when you die
- A complex crafting system that allowed you to create better equipment
- A moral system that punished bad deeds
- Player housing
- In the future, ships, more cities, and guilds were to be introduced, but that is now history.
Gran Skrea launched with big plans in June 2018 as Early Access on Steam and remains there to this day. The MMORPG struggled with serious technical issues until the end and could only win a few players.
However, it has mostly positive reviews on Steam, as the few fans that the game managed to attract were enthusiastic. Nevertheless, the developers found themselves in a dead end, leading to the game’s shutdown.
In this video, YouTuber TheLazyPeon plays the MMORPG:
“The game would never have worked without significant investments”
Why is the game shutting down? In a statement on Steam titled “Gran Skrea Offline”, the developers honestly reveal why Gran Skrea was no longer salvageable. They explain that the MMORPG started as a hobby project in 2014 and that they drastically underestimated the ongoing costs of an online role-playing game.
They say that while their team could have developed new content and provided regular updates for the game, they could not manage the technical issues at the same time.
This led to frequent lags and server crashes, the causes of which were clear and what needed to be done was known. However, these tasks were so massive that they would have required significantly more manpower to address. This additional workforce would also have needed more funding, presenting the next challenge.
Ultimately, only an average of 2 players were playing the MMORPG simultaneously on Steam. (via Steamcharts.com).
Focusing on attracting more players to the game, which would also mean more revenue, would not have worked. The game was technically unable to handle larger player numbers. If we had focused on fixing the bugs bit by bit, there would have been no new content and thus no new players, so that was not really an option either.
We let it run for a while longer, but the truth is that the game would never have worked without significant financial investments.
What’s next? On June 1st, almost exactly 4 years after the launch of Early Access, Gran Skrea Online will be discontinued, and the servers will go offline for good. However, you can no longer purchase the game even now.
They also reveal that there are no realistic plans to restart the MMORPG in the future. Instead, they want to focus on a single-player project that would better match the size of the team and financial resources, according to the developers.
The new game is titled The Black Grimoire: Cursebreaker and aims to set similar focuses as Gran Skrea. The developers promise that you will enjoy the new game if you had fun in Gran Skrea.
The community reacts surprisingly positively
How are the fans reacting? The comments under the announcement in the Steam forum are overwhelmingly positive. Many players thank the team for the shared experience and the honesty.
Some also admit that they are looking forward to the single-player project just as much as to the MMORPG and assure the developer team of their continued support. Of course, the fans are still sad that Gran Skrea is being permanently shut down. Overall, however, the tone is positive and understanding.
What are the players saying? This is how the last players of the MMORPG are responding in the forum (via Steam):
- Helecaraxe writes: “Thank you so much for the game. It was an honor to meet you and the game, and I look forward to playing your new game soon.”
- Torac also thanks: “I really enjoyed Gran Skrea. Thank you for all the hard work on the game. I will definitely keep an eye out for your new project.”
- Bungus and his friends say goodbye: “I loved this game so much. It’s a shame it never really took off, but at least I managed to convince five of my friends to play with me. It was truly a Gran Skrea time! Thank you for the game and the unwavering support over the years.”
What do you think of the MMORPG? Have you ever played Gran Skrea Online? Are you sad that the game is shutting down, or did you see it coming like some of the fans? What do you think of the developers’ statement? Feel free to leave your comments here at MeinMMO.
Gran Skrea Online was not among the 6 MMORPGs that MeineMMO editor Alexander Leitsch says will die in 2022.
