It’s not unusual these days for an online game to have a short lifespan, especially with so many quick-hit “instant” style games popping up recently. Of course, game publishers have plenty of reasons to shut down their “brainchild” projects. But sometimes, the reasons come as a total shock, like the awkward handling from the publisher of War Policy Three Kingdoms below.
Games based on the Three Kingdoms theme always have a huge appeal to gamers worldwide. In Japan, it’s no different, which helped War Policy Three Kingdoms quickly build a loyal fanbase. But surprisingly, on April 25, the publisher suddenly announced the complete shutdown of this game, citing an unrecoverable server error.
Clearly, the server problems stem from the publisher’s negligence, but the ones who suffer the most are the players of War Policy Three Kingdoms. Even though the publisher promised refunds for those who spent money in the game, the community’s anger remains strong. Many feel the explanation is far from convincing. Still, fans of War Policy Three Kingdoms might consider themselves lucky compared to players of Hero, another Japanese game that recently shut down.
The reason Hero’s publisher gave was that the entire game production process, from planning, design, operation to scriptwriting, was handled by just one employee. When that person became overwhelmed, the game had to be paused based on their own decision. This reason is very specific but obviously hard for players to accept.
