Forsaken World is a MMORPG developed by Perfect World. They are known for games like World of Jade Dynasty and the MMORPGs Perfect World and Perfect World 2. Forsaken World has been playable in the West since 2012 and even received a version on Steam and for mobile devices. However, this year the servers will be shut down.
What kind of MMORPG was it? Forsaken World is very reminiscent of WoW in its structure and interface. You create a character from various races and classes and immerse yourself in a colorful game world. There you can expect the usual content:
- You complete quests and defeat monsters.
- You can customize your character through various talents.
- Combat is in third-person with a tab-targeting system.
- There is a crafting system.
- Dungeons play an important role in the endgame and can be accessed via a dungeon finder.
- PvP exists in arenas, as well as in the open world, once you reach level 30. Here the game actually offers a small innovation: Whenever you are hit in PvP, you lose soul orbs. You must collect these afterward to avoid losing strength. You can also collect the orbs from enemies for a boost.
However, the game could not build a large community in the West. The fact was hindered by the existence of simply better alternatives around the release of Forsaken World such as Rift, SWTOR, and Guild Wars 2. Additionally, the shop was significantly more aggressively monetized, with XP boosters and potions for real money.
What has happened now? At the end of April, Gearbox Publishing (formerly Perfect World Entertainment) announced the shutdown of the servers. Forsaken World will be discontinued on November 30, 2022. Those who invested money in the game since March 1 will receive this back in the form of Arc Credits, which can also be used in Neverwinter, Star Trek Online, or Perfect World.
An insight into the game is provided by the video from the German YouTuber Spieletrend from 2017:
Forsaken World attempted as a mobile MMORPG in 2015
How have the last years been for the MMORPG? The game received little attention at launch. It was also quickly released on the Steam platform.
In 2015, a mobile version of the game was developed: Forsaken World: Gods and Demons. However, it relied entirely on auto-play, so you didn’t have to play actively to make progress.
In 2017, Perfect World removed many of their games from Steam to provide better support. This also included Forsaken World. Shortly afterward, the mobile version Gods and Demons was released, but it received 61% negative reviews on Steam.
In recent years, the original Forsaken World received primarily updates in the shop and there were rotations at the events. The last significant update we found dates back to 2016.
Is Forsaken World the only MMORPG that will die in 2022? No. At the beginning of the year, the games Eternal Magic and Kritika: Reboot, as well as the Steam MMORPG Element Quest were also affected. The Mobile MMORPG Warhammer Odyssey has already been shut down after suffering weeks of hacker attacks.
Additionally, another shutdown has been announced for 2022 that has affected many players significantly more than the previously mentioned ones. Because in June, Gameforge will permanently shut down the action MMORPG TERA.
More on this can be found in this post:
TERA is considered one of the best action MMORPGs – But in 2 months it will close forever
