Rank 6 – Wizardry Online
Developer: Gamepot | Platforms: PC | Release: January 30, 2013 | Shutdown: July 31, 2014
What was Wizardry Online? The MMORPG was based on the classic single-player RPG series Wizardry, which was especially popular in the 1980s and 1990s. In the MMORPG, your task was to explore large dungeons with a hero. Numerous enemies lay in wait, but there were also many treasures to be found.
PvP played a very significant role. Players were not safe from other players in towns and dungeons. If someone was killed, their hero was lost forever due to permadeath.
How long did the MMORPG run? The launch occurred on January 31, 2013. The end came relatively quickly on July 31, 2014.
Why didn’t the game succeed? Wizardry Online was a very difficult and brutal MMORPG. The open-PvP combined with the permadeath system led to frustration among players. Eventually, the user numbers dropped so low that it simply was no longer worthwhile to maintain operations, leading to an end just about 1.5 years after launch.
