Asheron's Call MMO's Getting Shut Down

Turbine used to be one of the most iconic developers of MMORPGs, even before the big boom following the release of World of Warcraft. While they made both Dungeons and Dragons Online, as well as Lord of the Rings online, perhaps their most iconic work was Asheron's Call and Asheron's Call 2, the latter released in 2002, the former a product of 1999, making it the third-oldest MMORPG in the world (beaten only by Ultima Online and Everquest). 

Well, these treasured pieces of MMORPG history aren't long for this world, as it was announced over Facebook today that both games would be shutting down very soon, come January of next year.

"It is with a heavy heart that we must announce the end of our support for Asheron's Call and Asheron’s Call 2, and will close both services on January 31st, 2017. This decision did not come easy, and we know this is disappointing for many of you. This game is a labor of love, and it's not easy for us to bring it to an end. We have had a phenomenally long run; one of the longest in the world of MMORPGs, and that in and of itself is a spectacular feat. We are proud of our legacy, and the entire Asheron's Call team has been honored to adventure with you for nearly twenty years. We thank you very much for being a part of it."

While the news is sad, it's not exactly surprising. Turbine has been slowly shutting down for a while now, the servers are... sparse, to put it gently, and development of these two games specifically stopped two years ago. Servers cost money, y'know.

While you can't make new accounts anymore, any old players can return and enjoy a month or so of free play before either game is shut down, so if you want to visit one last time before it goes, now's your chance. Who knows, maybe it'll go all "Overlord" on you, and wouldn't that be fun?

Ah, anime references. Good times.