The Zapper!: "Lego Universe"
Posted: Monday November 7th, 2011
by
Yesterday my good friend Gamasutra told me that the Lego Group would be closing Lego Universe at the end of January, a mere 15 months after the game's release. [more info]
As the title of this writeup states, I wish I could say I was surprised. But I can't. Lego Universe is one of those titles I was really looking forward to. Then I played it. I was hoping for something with the raw building ability of Minecraft and the charm of the Lego Batman/Harry Potter/Star Wars titles. Yeah, I didn't see any of that. What I got we a game that flustered and frustrated me from the onset. I just couldn't enjoy it. So I never went back.
Before the game released, I honestly thought it could survive. I guess I always expected a full Free-to-Play game. But I ignored the key demographic. It's mostly kids right? How are they going to pay for micro-transactions? Are there a lot of toddler credit cards out there that I'm not aware of? I have this odd feeling Lego might be thinking the same thing. Especially since the reason they gave for closing the game was that they failed to convert enough of the Free-to-Play users to Members.
In closing...
As with all game (and in this case studio) closures, my deepest sympathies for anyone now scrambling for work. It's a rough market out there right now and all I have to offer is my best wishes. I feel bad every time I post a Zapper! strip.
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UPDATE: Whoops! Forgot to set the comic live. All fixed.
[ discuss ]
As the title of this writeup states, I wish I could say I was surprised. But I can't. Lego Universe is one of those titles I was really looking forward to. Then I played it. I was hoping for something with the raw building ability of Minecraft and the charm of the Lego Batman/Harry Potter/Star Wars titles. Yeah, I didn't see any of that. What I got we a game that flustered and frustrated me from the onset. I just couldn't enjoy it. So I never went back.
Before the game released, I honestly thought it could survive. I guess I always expected a full Free-to-Play game. But I ignored the key demographic. It's mostly kids right? How are they going to pay for micro-transactions? Are there a lot of toddler credit cards out there that I'm not aware of? I have this odd feeling Lego might be thinking the same thing. Especially since the reason they gave for closing the game was that they failed to convert enough of the Free-to-Play users to Members.
In closing...
As with all game (and in this case studio) closures, my deepest sympathies for anyone now scrambling for work. It's a rough market out there right now and all I have to offer is my best wishes. I feel bad every time I post a Zapper! strip.
-----
UPDATE: Whoops! Forgot to set the comic live. All fixed.
[ discuss ]
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