Rumor - NCSoft Austin to Close

[Morvelaira]

Home to Tabula Rasa and Dungeon Runners, NCSoft Austin is under the chopping block if rumors are to be believed. Interesting too, because the NCSoft Q2 results from earlier in the day had given me hope. Maybe this is some weird kind of Korean joke.

According to the rumors, Tabula Rasa is safe for the moment and headed to Seattle, but Dungeon Runners is going away. To that farm, out in the country. You know the one Fluffy went to? Lack of subscription income has been cited as the cause but I call BS on that - Dungeon Runners is a FTP game.

You can find the news article here.

[Sardu]

As far as industry rumors go, I'm going to file this one under "I don't want to see it happen, which means it probably will". I've been reading all sorts of things on this, one constant being that it's expected Dungeon Runners will be shut down, with a few sprinklings of a potential TR closure this time next year if the game doesn't see more subscriber revenue.

With Dungeon Runners, the closure would be a surprise to me if it does happen anytime soon. From what I've seen they've got a solid retail presence, being on the shelves of just about any major retailer who sells PC games in my area. Pulling the plug on a title just after securing shelf space tends to come off as a slap in the face to your retail partners, not to mention anyone who just purchased the box copy. You know, the old bait-n-switch routine ala the pre-order boxes for GnH.

Hopefully something official is announced by NCSoft soon, but as it goes when there's not an immediate PR statement to deny the rumors that by now are posted at most gaming sites it does tend to lend a certain amount of credibility to them.

[Cody Bye]

Originally Posted by Sardu

As far as industry rumors go, I'm going to file this one under "I don't want to see it happen, which means it probably will". I've been reading all sorts of things on this, one constant being that it's expected Dungeon Runners will be shut down, with a few sprinklings of a potential TR closure this time next year if the game doesn't see more subscriber revenue.

With Dungeon Runners, the closure would be a surprise to me if it does happen anytime soon. From what I've seen they've got a solid retail presence, being on the shelves of just about any major retailer who sells PC games in my area. Pulling the plug on a title just after securing shelf space tends to come off as a slap in the face to your retail partners, not to mention anyone who just purchased the box copy. You know, the old bait-n-switch routine ala the pre-order boxes for GnH.

Hopefully something official is announced by NCSoft soon, but as it goes when there's not an immediate PR statement to deny the rumors that by now are posted at most gaming sites it does tend to lend a certain amount of credibility to them.

TTH will have an official statement very soon. Sometime this afternoon.

[Taea]

Ack! Tabula Rasa recently lost April "CuppaJo" Burba to Dungeon Runners. I hope they have something new for her, whatever happens.

Good Wishes to the Austin team, if the rumor is true

[Cody Bye]

Here's the update - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/41094