Asheron's Call 2 silenced

In a posting on the official Asheron's Call 2 Web site, Jeffrey Anderson, CEO of developer and publisher Turbine Entertainment, has announced the impending death of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

"In spite of our hard work and the launch of [Asheron's Call 2 expansion pack] Legions, AC2 has reached the point where it no longer makes sense to continue the service," Anderson wrote. "We will be officially closing the Asheron's Call 2 service on 12/30/05. Until then, we plan to run live events, but we will not be adding any content or features."

A Turbine spokesperson confirmed for GameSpot that the title was no longer profitable, and will be shut down in all existing markets. All staffers previously working on Asheron's Call 2 have been reassigned.

As one might expect, reactions on the official Asheron's Call 2 forums run the gamut of negativity, with some people swearing off the company forever and others expressing sorrow for their now-doomed high-level characters.

When asked about possibly assisting Asheron's Call 2 subscribers with access to other Turbine titles, the spoksesperson only said "We are not announcing any details at this time."

The original Asheron's Call is still up and running, and Turbine has not given any indication of changing that. On the official Asheron's Call forums, Turbine's director of community relations (who posts on both games' forums under the name Calandryll) was quick to address user concerns.

"There are no plans to shut down AC1 at this time," Calandryll wrote. "Obviously I can't predict the future, but AC1 is in a very different situation than AC2 and it is our intention to continue supporting AC1."

Turbine is currently in development on two high-profile MMORPGs in the forms of Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach and Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, which are both due for release in the first quarter of 2006.