The Realm Online dies its final death. Update: Still alive?
Posted: June 23rd, 2023, 17:04
https://www.realm-worlds.com/
This was the first graphical online RPG I played, and one of the first MMORPGs to exist. It's sad to see it die over a stupid IP dispute because the holders of the IP want more money from a niche game.Dear Realmers,
We are sad to inform you of a sudden and unexpected end to our journey together.
Since the beginning of March, we have been talking with Norseman Games to acquire the IP rights to The Realm Online. At first, they seemed open and willing to entertain working out a deal with us, and we were confident in our ability to present them a compelling and valuable offer. Unfortunately, after presenting two offers to them we received little feedback. We were never provided a counteroffer nor any requested details to help us understand why our valuation was "inadequate". As a result, our relationship is ending and with it our ability to continue to operate and develop the game.
The current agreement we have with Norseman Games gives us no path to acquiring the IP. This impedes our ability to direct more money into developing content for the game. As revenue from the game decreases year over year, the effective percentage of revenue that goes to Norseman increases, making it harder still. None of the LLC members have been compensated for over a year. We had full intention of exploring every possibility to grow the player base, but without a way to acquire the IP this isn't a workable arrangement.
Over the next few days, we will be issuing prorated refunds to current subscribers and winding down our operations of the game. The game servers and website will officially shutdown on June 30th, 2023, at 18:00 EST.
If we are presented the opportunity to resume operations and development, Finvarra's Fortress will be in the exact state that we left it; nothing will be lost. We will be keeping backups of the work we have done over the last five years, including all character data from the Finvarra's Fortress server and everything in-progress that hasn't yet been completed.
The previous five years has presented The Realm with an amazing group of volunteers; these people have been instrumental to the community and well beyond. We hope that one day we can collaborate with these great folks again.
We have immensely enjoyed our last five years together trying to make The Realm a better place to play. As you all know, we are all players ourselves so we will continue to see you around. We hope that development on the game continues and the game lives a long and fulfilling life.
For now, this is goodbye. But we hope to be involved again some time soon. Please feel free to join our community on Discord at https://discord.gg/realmworlds
Sincerely,
Jaxson, Michael, and Roger
Realm Worlds, LLC