Asheron's Call 2 to close at the end of the year

Turbine CEO states "it no longer makes sense to continue the service"

Without citing specific reasons for the decision, Turbine Entertainment has decided to close the massively multiplayer online title Asheron's Call 2 on December 30, 2005.

In a post at http://forums.ac2.turbine.com/showthread.php?p=211517#211517, the directory of community relations, Calandryll (otherwise known as Jeff Hanna) pointed the post from the CEO of Turbine, Jeffrey Anderson, announcing the end of service for AC2 (which in addition to being found at http://ac2.turbine.com/index.php?page_id=384, is also below).

The message read:

"Dear AC2 subscribers,

"In spite of our hard work and the launch of Legions, AC2 has reached the point where it no longer makes sense to continue the service. We will be officially closing the Asheron's Call 2 service on 12/30/05. Until then, we plan to run live events, but we will not be adding any content or features.

"We deeply appreciate the many dedicated fans of AC2 who have stood by us over the years. You have our sincerest gratitude."

Having launched in November 2002, AC2 raised the bar in terms of the graphical quality of massively multiplayer titles, combining high adventure with a solid combat model. However, bugs and other issues started to produce a drain on the community, and Turbine was forced to downsize the server base in 2003 in an effort to keep the remaining servers viable. New content lured some players back, but AC2 was unable to sustain the numbers it once enjoyed, which is likely one of the factors leading to this decision..
 

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