The fact that an online game has a short “lifespan” is not too surprising at this point, especially in the context of an increasing number of “instant noodle” style games emerging recently. Indeed, a game publisher has countless reasons to shut down their “brainchild”. However, there are still surprising stories like the awkward handling of the publisher of the game War Policy Three Kingdoms below.
Games related to the Three Kingdoms theme always have a strong appeal to the gaming community in many parts of the world. In Japan, the situation is similar, and that is also why War Policy Three Kingdoms did not take too long to gather a substantial loyal fan base. However, it was quite surprising when on April 25, the publisher of this game suddenly announced the complete shutdown of their brainchild, citing severe server issues that could not be resolved.
Clearly, server issues stem from the publisher’s oversight, yet the ones suffering the most in this situation are none other than the gamers of War Policy Three Kingdoms. Despite the publisher stating they would refund those who had spent money on the game, this still caused significant outrage within the gaming community. Many opinions suggest that the reason given by this publisher is far from convincing. However, fans of War Policy Three Kingdoms might still consider themselves lucky, especially in comparison to the gamers of Hero, another game that just recently shut down.
The reason given by the publisher of Hero was that the entire game production process, from planning, design, operation, to script production, was carried out by just one employee. And because this employee became overwhelmed, the game had to be temporarily paused based on his whims. This reason is extremely specific, but clearly, it is hard to satisfy gamers.