Alteil made the sad announcement earlier today that it is going to close down. Below is the message from Alteil's website.
This gives players a time frame up to July 23, 2012 to enjoy their favorite game.
I know I for one am disappointed. Although I have not invested any amount in the game, I have been playing it for almost 3 years now and have invested that much time in it. It is sad to see all the time I have spent accumulating cards go to waste. It is even sadder for those players who have actually invested thousands of dollars in the game. If this was a real collectible card game, one could still keep the cards, and perhaps sell it or just keep playing with it. But the problem with an online playground is that once the people running it are no longer earning from it, it is shut down.
What surprises me is that gaming sites like Yahoo Games and Ikariam are still around, and have existed longer than Alteil. And I am doubtful that Yahoo Games acts as a major revenue provider for Yahoo. But I guess the major difference between Yahoo and Alteil is the player base. Almost everyone can find a game that they would like to play on Yahoo Games. But Alteil is not for everyone.
I would like to think that there is still hope for Alteil US. Perhaps another investor would like to purchase it from its current owners and try to change or tweak their revenue production model. Alteil is a game to the players, but a business to the owners. And if a business is not earning any money, it will close down.
Part of me wants to believe that this might be an April Fool's prank. But that date has long since passed. Perhaps it is a marketing gimmick for Alteil's Set 11 (logo seen above). But the message above shows that they are releasing it for FREE, perhaps as an act of good will to all the players that have supported the game. And releasing it for FREE just makes the closing down of Alteil more real.
Perhaps I would have to learn Japanese so that I can shift to Alteil 2 instead. Perhaps Alteil 2 US is the next chapter in this book.
Thanks to the makers of the game. I wish it would not end.
This gives players a time frame up to July 23, 2012 to enjoy their favorite game.
I know I for one am disappointed. Although I have not invested any amount in the game, I have been playing it for almost 3 years now and have invested that much time in it. It is sad to see all the time I have spent accumulating cards go to waste. It is even sadder for those players who have actually invested thousands of dollars in the game. If this was a real collectible card game, one could still keep the cards, and perhaps sell it or just keep playing with it. But the problem with an online playground is that once the people running it are no longer earning from it, it is shut down.
What surprises me is that gaming sites like Yahoo Games and Ikariam are still around, and have existed longer than Alteil. And I am doubtful that Yahoo Games acts as a major revenue provider for Yahoo. But I guess the major difference between Yahoo and Alteil is the player base. Almost everyone can find a game that they would like to play on Yahoo Games. But Alteil is not for everyone.
I would like to think that there is still hope for Alteil US. Perhaps another investor would like to purchase it from its current owners and try to change or tweak their revenue production model. Alteil is a game to the players, but a business to the owners. And if a business is not earning any money, it will close down.
Part of me wants to believe that this might be an April Fool's prank. But that date has long since passed. Perhaps it is a marketing gimmick for Alteil's Set 11 (logo seen above). But the message above shows that they are releasing it for FREE, perhaps as an act of good will to all the players that have supported the game. And releasing it for FREE just makes the closing down of Alteil more real.
Perhaps I would have to learn Japanese so that I can shift to Alteil 2 instead. Perhaps Alteil 2 US is the next chapter in this book.
Thanks to the makers of the game. I wish it would not end.
No comments:
Post a Comment