After about three years from launch, Asheron’s Call 2 is finally done:

Dear AC2 subscribers,

In spite of our hard work and the launch of Legions, AC2 has reached the point where it no longer makes sense to continue the service. We will be officially closing the Asheron’s Call 2 service on 12/30/05. Until then, we plan to run live events, but we will not be adding any content or features.

We deeply appreciate the many dedicated fans of AC2 who have stood by us over the years. You have our sincerest gratitude.

Best regards,

Jeffrey Anderson
CEO, Turbine

We could argue again about MMORPGs life cycles but the truth is that this one was already dead the first day of release. “Mmorpg sequels are dumb”.

Calandryll succintly commented at Corpnews:

Not really much more to say. Nobody on AC2 was laid off, they’re on other projects (DDO and LOTRO) now. AC1 devs have all been given the option to move to Mass.

Obviously this is a difficult time for a lot of people and our first priority is helping out our friends in CA.

The first and only expansion (Legions) was released just this May, probably as the last attempt to see if there was something to save or not. There wasn’t much, of course.

One month after the expansion Turbine got even more founding. With two failures (as of today) on two released products and two upcoming projects based on popular IPs (Tolkien and Dungeons & Dragons) I’m looking forward to more fireworks and even more spectacular failures.

As noted on QT3 the first thing you see on the front page is a free month for old players. Without a notice about the shutdown.