Yesterday was the day, the last day, for Landmark. As Daybreak announced back in early January, the game was destined to go. And with it goes any last remnant of EverQuest Next as well, and whatever that might have become.
I gave my own brief synopsis of the life and times of Landmark in that post linked above, along with links out to the reactions of others. (Including the harsh EQ2 Wire summing up of the EverQuest Next debacle.)
But now the day has come and gone. The game, once just a bullet point on the EverQuest Next announcement at SOE Live, has been shut down. The web site and forums have been hidden away and the domain resolves to the Daybreak main page. The few remaining fans have had their final look at the lands of… erm… <does Google search>… Lumeria! That was the name of the place.
And so we are reminded:
- There is a minimum population for an MMO to be viable
- It costs more than just electricity to keep a game running
- Daybreak’s “indie” status means it can’t carry games that don’t make money
As for the inevitable hopes of a fan made Landmark emulator, Daybreak won’t be helping out. As the now missing FAQ about the closure stated (backup of it here):
What happens to all the code/data from Landmark? Can someone open an emulator server for Landmark?
Daybreak Game Company will retain all of the code and data from Landmark. Daybreak Game Company will not license or authorize the operation of a Landmark emulator or a fan-operated Landmark server.
It doesn’t say they are going to come after you, but they aren’t going to give you a pass either.
And so we say good-bye.
MMOs that I follow or pay attention to, as opposed to just the market as a whole, now shut down frequently enough that I have even developed a posting pattern around such events.
At the announcement I post the company statement, my summary of the game and what it meant to me, and links out to others in the community doing the same. Then at the closure I put together a list of my posts about the game in question.
So here is my brief coverage of Landmark, including two seven day passes to try the game out:
- Monday Morning Talking Points for EverQuest Next – August 2013 (first mention)
- SOE Goes Into Real Estate Speculation – November 2013
- Quote of the Day – For Specific Definitions of “Next” – January 2014
- Landmark and a Dire Vision of Things to Come… – February 2014
- Small Items for a Cold Friday in March – March 2014 (The name change)
- The Seven Day Landmark – April 2014
- Landmark – In Which I Claim – April 2014
- Landmark – Another Quick Peek Week – May 2014
- Landmark and the Price of a Badly Defined Beta – July 2014
- Is Paid Early Access a Good Thing for MMOs? – January 2015
- Landmark Decision – March 2016 (Launch announcement, also not F2P)
- SOE and its MMORPGs – March 2016
- Friday Bullet Points – Newbies, Free Time, and PvP – March 2016 (PvP removed)
- June 10th will be a Landmark Date – May 2016
- Landmark Goes… Live – June 2016
- The End of Landmark Foretold – January 2017
And so it goes. Landmark, announced in August 2013, on sale for Early Access in November 2013, launched June 2016, and shut down in February 2017.
I would usually link other blogger reactions to the final day, but so far all I see is Syp, who mentions it in passing. If that changes I will put together a list.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 
I feel about Landmark pretty much exactly as I would feel about an offline game I might have bought a few years ago, played a lot for a few weeks and then a little now and again. If someone reminds me of it, like this, then it sparks a few fond memories but it’s ending has none of the emotional difficulty I associate with the ending of an MMORPG I played and enjoyed. Unlike other MMOs I’ve played that have sunsetted I won’t be doing a “goodbye” post. What’s more, until I read this post and Syp’s I had completely forgotten Landmark was still running. I kind of felt it had closed when I read the original announcement a couple of months back.
I don’t know exactly what Landmark was but it wasn’t an MMORPG. It might have become one and for a while in alpha it felt like that was going to happen but by the end it was…well, even now i still don’t know what it was. The whole thing could have been handled better but as you say, running these things costs money and if not enough people want to pay for it to cover the costs then even the most soft-hearted of owners is going to have to call it quits sometime.
Unless companies hang on until literally the last player stops logging in I don’t see how upsetting some people can be avoided. And even then I’m sure there’d be complaints from people like us who haven’t logged in for years but like to feel they *could* if they wanted to.
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It’s hard to get upset at wasted potential, when there was no real path for that potential to be realized. I mean, I don’t think it was ever sorted out what kind of game/experience Landmark was supposed to be. Round pegs, square holes, and all of that.
Me? I still think it could have been a blast if built as a modern graphic version of Minecraft, but clearly there was no vision or hope on how to monetize what was left of Landmark any further.
I still had a lot of fun in Landmark and don’t regret exploring there. Like Bhagpuss, no long (or any size) winded goodbye to the title.
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Exactly. I always loved Landmark, saw it’s incredible potential but could never answer “potential for what?” I could never see the game’s direction, and I guess that was part of its downfall.
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This may be a little beyond the time for grief. Too bad it didn’t develop its own story and too bad it fell. However I alwBays look for the sandbox that is open and the sky is the limit on the power of creation. I miss that and always think back on Landmark when I am seeking for a game with the power of creation. Honestly I will probably never invest into Daybreak Games, I feel robed and taken advantage of. Not only do I feel wronged as a developer myself the way this game was used puts a bad name on early access. Due to my experience I will never have that option available for my games.
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