Auto Assault: Trials, Referrals, Store Closed & Zzyn Comments on the Shutdown Decision

Auto Assault Associate Producer "Zzyn" posted today the following information regarding the shutdown of Trial, Referrals & Store services and explained the reasons behind pulling the plug:

Hiya Folks,

I have some updates to provide regarding the status of some Auto Assault related programs and services. Further in this message I will comment a bit on at least one of the major questions that has come up quite often. But first:

All trial keys are now invalid, meaning no *new* trial users can enter the game. Players currently on a trial account can play through to that trial's expiration. We've disabled the "referral" program and referral keys will no longer be generated for Auto Assault. The PlayNC store no longer has Auto Assault as an available option for purchase. We've also made a number of updates to the PlayNC site, including the removal of the "buy now" buttons and other related links.

Now, there's one question you've asked many times that we haven't answered yet: instead of closing Auto Assault completely, why didn't you convert it into a free-to-play game?

For Auto Assault to be "free" it would have required further retooling, recoding, systems redesign, lots of back-end work, etc. Essentially, for a game to be successful in a "free" game model, the design has to be there from the beginning. Auto Assault was built as a full subscriber based MMO. Retooling it at this point would not likely have had any major effect on the user base, and the cost in resources, time and energy to make it "free" would have been substantial.

There is no doubt that this has been a painful process for everyone involved. The Dev team, Community, QA, Billing, GM's, and everyone else involved with the game has felt and will continue to feel the pains of this decision, this action.

You, our players and fellow gamers have felt the pain, indeed. There is no real way to soften the blow. What you, the dedicated Auto Assault players, want more than anything is to see the game continued. Unfortunately, I can't offer that resolution. Currently there are no plans to bring Auto Assault back after the end of August.

Some folks have asked a number of other questions regarding the game, the decisions that led to this action, why, how, and so on. I can tell you we did not make this decision lightly. I cannot go into the details of any contract or negotiation that may have occurred during that process. I think I speak for everyone on the operating and development sides when I say that we are passionate about our games, our customers, and providing the best service possible. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out as we hoped, and the appropriate, difficult decisions were made. I will try to provide more answers to your questions when I can.

My deepest thanks go out to all of you who have roamed the wastelands with us.

-Zzyn