NCsoft grounds Spacetime MMOG

In March 2006, fledgling developer Spacetime Studios teamed up with massively multiplayer online game publisher NCsoft on its first project. With the "core team" of its Austin, Texas, studio comprising alums from such interstellar games as Star Wars Galaxies and Wing Commander, it came as little surprise that Spacetime's maiden project would be a spacefaring MMOG.

It now appears as if Spacetime's sci-fi MMOG will amount to little more than a solar flare. The developer confirmed in a posting to its Web site that NCsoft had canned the project, and as a result, Spacetime would be laying off a dozen employees. No reasons were given for the cancellation of the project, and Spacetime hopes to revive the project under a new publisher in the future.

Spacetime also emphasized that it was parting from NCsoft on amicable terms, and that it would not be shutting down its operations as a result of the game's cancellation.

"We want to stress that there are no bad feelings with NCsoft," reads the post. "There is a tremendous amount of mutual respect between our companies. They have conducted themselves with honor and integrity, and we would work with them again in an instant...We are still here, stable and strong, and running a little bit lighter while we figure out our next move."