Gameforge Shutting Down RaiderZ EU

Is it just me or does the EU always seem to get shafted in some way or another when it comes to Free-to-Play releases? Release delays, shutdowns and missing content updates seem to be a regular occurrence across the pond.

So is it surprising that Gameforge just announced it's shutting down the EU version of the action MMO RaiderZ? Honestly not at all. The publisher already has two other major MMO's under its belt including Aion and TERA, both of which have been getting a lot more attention -and content- lately.

The news came via an official post on the RaiderZ Europe website which stated the game would shut down on August 30th. Speaking to the fans, the RaiderZ team offered up the following explanation:

This decision was not taken lightly and all potential alternatives were looked at extensively, but as the game did not attain the level of success that we had anticipated, we are left with no other choice but to take this step.

Perhaps the reason it did not attain the level of success they had anticipated was because Gameforge also hosts the action MMO TERA, which was seen as RaiderZ's direct P2P competitor before TERA made the F2P switch. Hosting two games which are in direct competition with one another is a sure way to dilute both fan bases.

A small FAQ was also posted on the EU RaiderZ forums which echoed the statement above and offered a solution for those wishing to continue their adventure in the MMO; switch to another RaiderZ publisher. That publisher is of course, Perfect World Entertainment who handle publishing duties for the MMO in NA regions.

For now PWE continues to support the MMO, but the shutdown really begs the question. Will this be the same fate for the NA version as well? It can be hard to answer that, because we really don't know how well the MMO is doing over here. Perhaps an influx of EU players will solidify the MMO's security a while longer, but that's assuming there are no outstanding latency issues for foreign players.

In the end, I am actually kind of sad to see the MMO go. RaiderZ was one of the first Free-to-Play open world action MMORPGs I can remember and marked a step in the right direction for MMO combat.

If you're interested in reading the FAQ for yourself -along with some player responses- you can have a look at it here. What do you think ultimately lead to the demise of RaiderZ EU?