Demon's Souls North American Servers Go Dark On May 31
Sad times indeed.
Published: April 13, 2012
If you're a frequent visitor of the site you'll know just how much all of us love From Software's Soul games. Demon's Souls started out as nothing more than a dream, a game that was released in Japan that only importers could enjoy. Many admired it from afar, waxing poetically about how awesome the game must be based on videos and screenshots. The good folks at Atlus brought over the game and from that moment history was made. It had a sequel that was released last year, Dark Souls, that was a rousing success as well.
All good things must come to an end, however, and that means that the fat lady is warming up for Demon's Souls. The game's North American online servers will shut down at the end of the final hour on May 31, 2012. This means no more invasions, no more ghosts, no more summons, and no more bloodstains to learn by. As a parting gift Atlus has unveiled plans to have two World Tendency events next month, on May 1st and May 16th. If you have any final Pure White or Pure Black items or meetings to do this will be your final chance to do so with no effort being required. Atlus has also invited all of Boletaria's soldiers to sign on one final time on May 31 before the servers close forever.
"On October 6, 2009, North American gamers' expectations of what an online roleplaying experience could be were forever changed," commented Tim Pivnicny, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Atlus. "With Demon's Souls, gamers received a title of breathtaking scope and vision, a project built on experimental cooperative and competitive multiplayer concepts, offering users both direct and indirect methods of communication and interaction. Elements of every connected player's single player world carried into the worlds of others, sometimes as nothing more than an echo or afterimage, and other times in the form of an alliance or invasion. With countless hazards to memorize and plan for spread across each of the game's sprawling dozen--plus worlds, the ability for players to leave hints--or, potentially, deceptions-and to view the final moments of other adventurers' lives, created an unprecedented form of RPG crowd-sourcing that remains revolutionary to this day.
"When subtle interactions were insufficient assistance, players could call across dimensions for assistance, pulling the weakened spirit forms of other adventurers--unable to communicate using conventional voice chat in order to preserve the game's intense atmosphere--into their worlds to help them defeat the game's unforgettable boss monsters. Other less altruistic spirit form users could invade the world of living adventurers and try to revive themselves by quite literally stealing that life from another. All of these online elements, all of the ways in which gamers would interact with each other, served to enhance and complement the core game and were designed so as to neither diminish nor distract from the experience and thrill of simply playing the game.
"It has been a tremendous honor and privilege for all of our staff at Atlus to have been involved with so innovative and groundbreaking an interactive entertainment experience. We poured our heart and soul into every facet of our involvement with Demon's Souls, particularly the title's memorable Deluxe Edition, which served as the only avenue through which to purchase the game's official strategy guide. It was also of the utmost importance for us to sustain the game's online experience as long as possible, even beyond the point at which sales could help to offset the expense. Regrettably, the online servers cannot be sustained forever and now the end draws near. Thank you to the unparalleled passion and support of the Demon's Souls community throughout these last two and a half years. The online adventure may end soon, but the memory of it-just like that of every boss strategy, every level floor plan, and hidden secret-lives on in the gamers for whom the game was so special. Long live Boletaria!"
Couldn't have said it better myself, Tim.
I urge all fans to hop on and show your respects before the game goes dark. I'm getting wistful thinking of all of the ghostly encounters I had and all of the bloodstains that showed me what not to do. Guess it's finally time to fully move on. Sniff.
All good things must come to an end, however, and that means that the fat lady is warming up for Demon's Souls. The game's North American online servers will shut down at the end of the final hour on May 31, 2012. This means no more invasions, no more ghosts, no more summons, and no more bloodstains to learn by. As a parting gift Atlus has unveiled plans to have two World Tendency events next month, on May 1st and May 16th. If you have any final Pure White or Pure Black items or meetings to do this will be your final chance to do so with no effort being required. Atlus has also invited all of Boletaria's soldiers to sign on one final time on May 31 before the servers close forever.
"On October 6, 2009, North American gamers' expectations of what an online roleplaying experience could be were forever changed," commented Tim Pivnicny, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Atlus. "With Demon's Souls, gamers received a title of breathtaking scope and vision, a project built on experimental cooperative and competitive multiplayer concepts, offering users both direct and indirect methods of communication and interaction. Elements of every connected player's single player world carried into the worlds of others, sometimes as nothing more than an echo or afterimage, and other times in the form of an alliance or invasion. With countless hazards to memorize and plan for spread across each of the game's sprawling dozen--plus worlds, the ability for players to leave hints--or, potentially, deceptions-and to view the final moments of other adventurers' lives, created an unprecedented form of RPG crowd-sourcing that remains revolutionary to this day.
"When subtle interactions were insufficient assistance, players could call across dimensions for assistance, pulling the weakened spirit forms of other adventurers--unable to communicate using conventional voice chat in order to preserve the game's intense atmosphere--into their worlds to help them defeat the game's unforgettable boss monsters. Other less altruistic spirit form users could invade the world of living adventurers and try to revive themselves by quite literally stealing that life from another. All of these online elements, all of the ways in which gamers would interact with each other, served to enhance and complement the core game and were designed so as to neither diminish nor distract from the experience and thrill of simply playing the game.
"It has been a tremendous honor and privilege for all of our staff at Atlus to have been involved with so innovative and groundbreaking an interactive entertainment experience. We poured our heart and soul into every facet of our involvement with Demon's Souls, particularly the title's memorable Deluxe Edition, which served as the only avenue through which to purchase the game's official strategy guide. It was also of the utmost importance for us to sustain the game's online experience as long as possible, even beyond the point at which sales could help to offset the expense. Regrettably, the online servers cannot be sustained forever and now the end draws near. Thank you to the unparalleled passion and support of the Demon's Souls community throughout these last two and a half years. The online adventure may end soon, but the memory of it-just like that of every boss strategy, every level floor plan, and hidden secret-lives on in the gamers for whom the game was so special. Long live Boletaria!"
Couldn't have said it better myself, Tim.
I urge all fans to hop on and show your respects before the game goes dark. I'm getting wistful thinking of all of the ghostly encounters I had and all of the bloodstains that showed me what not to do. Guess it's finally time to fully move on. Sniff.
