Auto Assault headed for the scrap yard

NCSoft announces that the title will be shut down at the end of this summer; current subscriber accounts will be "reconciled."

Postapocalyptic massively multiplayer online driving game Auto Assault will be racing its last race on August 31. The online PC title, developed by NetDevil and published by NCSoft, was released slightly over a year ago in April 2006.

Gamers chose to join one of three factions--the humans, mutants, or biomeks--and play inside in a futuristic armed-to-the-teeth car, with a unique combat system to match. For more information on the game, read GameSpot's full review.

A notice on the game's official Web site stated the company's policy toward current subscribers. "As of today, any player currently in the service with an active billed account will not be billed again. If players have previously purchased time via multi-month billing or time cards that extends their service past July 31, NCsoft will reconcile these accounts appropriately."

The game will close at midnight on August 31. No reason was given as to why the game is being shut down, but it was hardly a success story. In Auto Assault's first full quarter of availability, NCsoft's financial report showed that the game--along with South Korean tennis game Smash Star--accounted for less than one-third of 1 percent of the company's sales.

NCsoft representatives had not returned calls to comment as of press time. However, a statement read that further announcements regarding the closure would be coming soon.

148 Comments

  • Nipplehook

    Posted Nov 23, 2008 7:44 am PT

    I could play other games on max that year but this game lagged on most lowest settings. Very unoptimised. Thats why I never bothered with retail version.

  • warrner11

    Posted Jan 7, 2008 3:11 am PT

    all of yal trashin it just cause u played the "beta" really have no clue as to how good the "retail" version really was. I may have played the game a little late in its life, but it was the first mmo i was willin to pay for along with another. But i guess it was at its best near the end since i ran into no glitches or any other issues of the such. i so do wish it was still around.

  • Lycen

    Posted Sep 2, 2007 4:24 am PT

    played the beta, and played the trial later. liked it a lot, but I do not subscribers to games. still sucks that its going down though.

  • sniper_99

    Posted Aug 28, 2007 9:16 pm PT

    Matrix Online is better than this game

  • GaussGoat

    Posted Aug 6, 2007 9:17 am PT

    I wish the guys over at NetDevil the best of luck with their future projects. Auto-Assault was a great idea, and I hope they continue to innovate.

  • The_PC_Gamer

    Posted Jul 5, 2007 8:32 pm PT

    Beta-tested it, didnt like it at all. This shut down isnt a huge surprise to me.

  • cckcmain

    Posted Jul 5, 2007 4:14 pm PT

    I beta tested this game and thought it was kind of fun. It's sad to see that it's going away now. When they ended the beta, I felt like there were a lot of issues left unresolved and the game didn't have a finished feel to it. What a shame, another set back for original ideas - bring on the WoW clones.

  • puablo

    Posted Jul 5, 2007 7:26 am PT

    Honestly I'm shocked they even have any subscribers to reconcile with. Having beta-tested it like others, I knew early on this was going to be really lame. Doesn't matter that it was a beta, the writing was already on the wall.

  • rarson

    Posted Jul 5, 2007 6:29 am PT

    I wish EA would make a new Motor City Online. That game shut down a few months after I started playing, right after I got REALLY hooked.

    Seems to me like automotive MMO's are destined to drop off within a relatively short amount of time.

  • Vorlonwatcher

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 11:20 pm PT

    I was a beta tester on Auto Assault and called this even then. It was just too 'different' from the mainstream MMOs to survive.

    (Personally, I thought the game also sucked, but that didn't factor in so much to my prediction.)

  • dergy

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 10:19 pm PT

    thats not true. alot of ppl out there dont like WoW. i dont. i play GW cus its free.

  • YukoAsho

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 9:32 pm PT

    Like they said on this week's Hotspot, people want to play World of Warcraft and nothing else. The MMORPG market is pretty much dead until WoW is gone.

  • malkav11

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 7:03 pm PT

    Erk. I knew it wasn't doing well, but...come on, closure this fast? I beta-tested the game and played for the packaged month later on and I quite enjoyed it. It's just not multiplayer enough to make a good MMO....I'd really like to see the game content available to the solo player even after shutdown. *sighs*

  • Jazzism

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 6:41 pm PT

    I beta tested it because I played NetDevils other game "Jumpgate" and wanted to see how this one was. The female character graphics were just amazing... anyway I found the whole gameplay very fun for a week but it didn't keep that interest. I rarely, if ever, ran into other players. The crafting was being worked on at the time I played so it was very confusing. I like the idea to open it up for either single player or private servers.

    Freelancer - still being played and developed independently by it's online community.
    Unreal Tournament 2k4 - still played online with a strong community following.
    Jumpgate - One of the oldest MMO's to date and still live. PLAY IT

    That's all I can comment on ATM.

  • VenDaler

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 5:52 pm PT

    Could they make it a single player mode so they don't need the servers, just a patch and take away the monthly fee? Maybe it would do better.

  • mkurts

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 4:19 pm PT

    Never heard of this game.

  • wmark007

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 3:42 pm PT

    i don't care!

  • bigmick07

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 2:32 pm PT

    wow this game must have sucked if they have to close it down

  • comiccollector5

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 2:17 pm PT

    They should sell the game to sites like ijji or gpotato and they can make it f2p but with special items to buy. Just a thought because i would love to try this game, but i dont really play p2p games.

  • blackace

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 1:46 pm PT

    This was a futuristic Twisted Metal Black with RPG type elements thrown in. From what I read, this game was all that great. Fun for a short period of time. Because the game failed so miserable early on, most of the server worlds were pretty empty. You could drive for hours and not see anyone. The game was a good idea, but just implemented incorrectly. It also wasn't advertized very well. There wasn't a lot of hype for it. There was more hype for the Matrix Online and the re-release of Eve Online, then this game.

  • zdpotter

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 1:29 pm PT

    Ouch. I think this died even faster than Asheron's Call 2.

  • xxxarlow

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 12:05 pm PT

    They both must be so disapointed.

  • mryoung4

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 11:20 am PT

    Never played it, but it didn't look very good anyway

  • rbranma

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 9:58 am PT

    I played this game..its such a piece of crap man, forget it!

  • rodimus_prime85

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 3:00 am PT

    Damn that game sounds good... Why is it only now, when they announce that it's shutting down servers, that I hear of it?!

    It's called advertisment NCSoft...have a word with the marketing department...

    Its the same with a Japanese community game I just started playing called Tokimeki Memorial by Konami. Started playing it the other day, then find out from the official Japanese website their shuting the game down... thus the problems with MMOG's rear's its unplesent head.

  • FlamingFury

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 12:55 am PT

    Not entirely surprised, their main downfall was their payment scheme. Had they done it like Guild Wars they would have sold heaps.

  • ewjim

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 12:03 am PT

    Just bad luck... Maybe next time they'll do something more interesting.

  • Chargrilled

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 12:03 am PT

    Wasnt a terrible game at all. Just had little or no advertising.
    Isnt a surprise that its getting scrapped.

  • sonic0491

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 11:47 pm PT

    er this game was basically never heard of, shouldve done more advertising.

  • Darkside2501

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 10:50 pm PT

    Sounds like fun, I wish I had of heard about it sooner.

  • vaejas

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 9:59 pm PT

    I think it was a fine idea in theory, and any crafting system that relies heavily on looting duct tape is aces in my book. But safe to say the implementation just wasn't exciting. Let's design a hawt character for 20 minutes, and then get in a car for 90% of the time. Something more like Roadblasters or Chase HQ in online form would be more enticing.

    Who gives a frak about the "character"? I mean, if you're just turning the player "character" into a vehicle, why stop at cars? Apache gunships... Transformers... Insects... hmm, sounding a bit like Spore! So yeah, even if you can't stick a hot babe on the box art, maybe try to come up with some adrenaline in the gameplay.

    Hey, wouldn't a Ninja MMO be awesome?
    [WTS Crate of Black Hoods PST]

  • John_of_Fire

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 8:40 pm PT

    Too bad. It was nice of someone to try a new type of MMO.

  • MxO

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 5:43 pm PT

    Bummer.

  • Pete5506

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 5:12 pm PT

    Dang that sucks, to bad I never played that game

  • Monkey316

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 5:04 pm PT

    Yeh they should let people host private servers

  • Makhdoom82

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 4:46 pm PT

    Oh i feel so bad for the poor guys !!! Ok good luck with your next game guys !!!

  • bildo2020

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 4:43 pm PT

    they should let people make their own servers for the game now so the hardcore fans can still play.

  • LockdownLA

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 4:36 pm PT

    HAHA! SAME HERE!
    I never got around to installing it, but when I heard it was shutting down, I dusted off the box and installed it yesterday. It'll be a fun time-killer for a few weeks.

    Targzissian
    I spent $10 on the limited edition at Best Buy several months back. I'd better get around to installing and playing it before they close the servers. At least I'll have the sound track to remember the game by.

  • jakeboudville

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 4:26 pm PT

    It's a good thing i didn't have this game back then *wipes brow*

  • Targzissian

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 4:03 pm PT

    I spent $10 on the limited edition at Best Buy several months back. I'd better get around to installing and playing it before they close the servers. At least I'll have the sound track to remember the game by.

  • ElectrolightSH

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 4:02 pm PT

    Auto Assault would have been a big success if they had made a 360 version but like most MMO's it was PC only and not available to a larger playerbase.

  • RedElf

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 4:01 pm PT

    shame they couldn't save it with a f2p system or something.

  • Pablo620

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 3:54 pm PT

    Why is there posts about star trek games here

  • ringbling

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 3:39 pm PT

    Too bad, this is a pretty cool game. If it wasn't out at the time that WoW was so (undeservingly) huge and if they'd have advertised it better it could have been a successful game. Now we get to go back to running around as scantily clad girls swinging an enchanted sword... whopee...

  • cjdaweasel

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 3:31 pm PT

    "has there ever been a good star trek game? I honeslty can't think of one."
    Legacy was pretty good, but you had to be a Star Trek fan to begin with. Bridge Commander was fantastic.

  • zyxomma100

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 3:30 pm PT

    Too bad. I got 2 free copies of the game due to Gamestop promotions (Limited Edition and free mic ftw), and it wasn't that bad. Just... barely wasn't enough to warrant the $15 per month.

    Here's to NCSoft, though. Still love you guys.

  • jakob_187

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 3:14 pm PT

    Personally, I'm not sad to see Auto Assault go bye-bye. It was getting to the point that any new content becoming available through updates was just dumb, and the game's mechanics just weren't implimented as well as they could've potentially been. I think Acclaim is going to have a sweeter one coming out from the David Perry project that have going right now.

    Plus...Auto Assault was a pay-to-play I believe, while Guild Wars isn't.

    As for WoW and GW being equal competitors, not even close. WoW is a persistent streaming world with raid instances and a level cap of 70 that allows for some pure ownage, as well as patches instead of streaming updates. The PvP was lacking until we got Arenas. Meanwhile, GW focuses on PvP so much, because there is a finite end to the games whether you want to admit it or not. I haven't played much of Factions, but I played Prophecies extensively and some of Nightfall, and while they have cool ideas, there is a lot of stuff they could improve in GW 2. Honestly, GW 2 and Warhammer Online look like the best chances for WoW to get real competition.

  • Themilkman418

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 3:04 pm PT

    Always sad to see a game close

  • dwmorrow

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 3:02 pm PT

    I think I remember reading that at one point, this game had less than 10k subscribers.

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