The kid-oriented LEGO-based MMO will be officially shuttered on the 31st January 2012, while the LEGO Universe staff was informed that the ‘Play Well Studios’ in Louisville, Colorado and the game’s marketing function in Billund, Denmark will be closed. This will result in 115 employees being let go, though they will be offered assistance in finding new jobs inside or outside the LEGO Group.
Despite a devoted fan base, the MMO still received a 70 Metacritic, and subscribership never reached the level publisher LEGO Group, Inc. had hoped. The MMO went free-to-play in August, but this apparently was not enough to keep the MMO viable.
”The LEGO Universe team can take pride in having developed and launched a great LEGO experience that many players will miss,” said Jesper Vilstrup, Vice President, LEGO Universe. ”Right now, we have almost 2 million players in LEGO Universe, and we get extremely positive feedback from players. Unfortunately, we have not been able to build a satisfactory revenue model in our target group, and therefore, have decided to close the game.”
LEGO Group, Inc. maintains that there will be more LEGO-related videogames in the future. LEGO Universe was launched just over a year ago on the 26th October, 2010.
