After an 18 month-long beta, EA has decided to kill Dawngate, the MOBA aimed to take on the likes of League of Legends, DOTA and other thriving games. In 90 days, the game is set to be completely shut down, which would make February 2015 its final month of operation. Any money spent during the beta will be refunded in full to players within the next 10 days, according to EA. Dawngate was open to the public for six months, however, it failed to gain a big playerbase. After so much money and time was invested into a game with potential, one has to wonder what the real reason behind its cancellation is, whether it be financial profit or lack of buzz and big fanbase, or both. Dawngate felt near-completion, being fully functional yet being denied a full release and a chance at proving its potential. We have yet to hear of any behind-the-scenes conversations and/or disagreements that might have led to this cancellation, however, be assured that an announcement will follow.
On their Twitter, they announced that all paid content would be free for the final three months.
As a last parting gift. All paid content is now free for the last 90 days. Thank you so much for playing.
— Dawngate (@TheDawngate) November 4, 2014
Waystone’s Matt Bromberg , creator of the game, announced on the Dawngate website earlier today.
Today, I have the unenviable task of announcing that we’ve decided to stop development of Dawngate.
Dawngate has been in beta for almost 18 months, including a full open beta for the past six months. Through that time, we’ve taken a lot of feedback from players and delivered lots of new features and innovations. And although the game has grown, we’re not seeing the progress we’d hoped for. This isn’t the outcome we wanted, but beta testing is about learning and improving, and ultimately, about making difficult decisions about how to proceed.Whenever we begin a game project, we do so with great hopes and expectations. In this case, we chose to enter a new genre for EA in MOBA, one that we knew going in was extremely competitive. We built a game in Dawngate that wasn’t simply a clone of existing MOBAs, but one that truly pushed the genre forward in many ways. Dawngate has been in beta for almost 18 months, including a full open beta for the past six months. Through that time, we’ve taken a lot of feedback from players and delivered lots of new features and innovations. And although the game has grown, we’re not seeing the progress we’d hoped for. This isn’t the outcome we wanted, but beta testing is about learning and improving, and ultimately, about making difficult decisions about how to proceed.
As for the incredibly talented team of designers, producers, engineers, and artists who have put so much creative energy into Dawngate: The game was truly a labor of love, and it shows. We’ve got nothing but gratitude for their hard work, and pride about what’s been accomplished.
As a part of the process of closing down Dawngate, we’ll continue to operate the game for the next 90 days. All players will be entitled to a full refund of any money spent during the beta. For most players, we’ll process those refunds within the next 10 days. If we don’t have current payment information on file for you, we’ll need to reach out first before initiating the refund. If you have any questions, you can reach us at help.ea.com.
On behalf of the entire team at Waystone Games and EA, I want once again to thank all our players for being part of this journey. Your straight-up feedback and the friendly reception we received all over the world at events was extremely encouraging and important to us. We appreciate it.
