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Press Releases
November 4, 2011
LEGO® Universe to close in 2012
Online game will close on January 31, 2012. The LEGO Group’s digital offerings
will continue to develop over the coming years.
November 4, 2011 – The LEGO Group today announced that it will close LEGO®
Universe, an MMOG (massively-multiplayer online game) that has been in operation
since the autumn of 2010.
In spite of very positive player feedback and a large number of players in the
free play zone, it has not been possible to convert a satisfactory number of
players to paying subscribers. It has therefore been decided to close the game
as of January 31, 2012.
“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.”
Despite the change, the ambition to develop and run a digital business remains.
In future, it is the intention to further pursue cooperation with partners. The
LEGO Group has a strong and continuing partnership with TT Games & Warner Bros.
Interactive Entertainment to create digital LEGO experiences within video games.
A further expansion in the digital area will mainly be based on similar
partnerships.
“The development of our digital offerings continues to be a very important
element in our strategy,” said Mads Nipper, Executive Vice President, LEGO
Group. “We have more than 20 million visitors on www.LEGO.com every month, and
LEGO video games are among the bestselling children’s video games with sales of
more than 60 million units in the last five years. Through our experience
developing and running LEGO Universe, we have gained a lot of valuable insights,
and we have a very strong foundation for future development in the digital
area.”
As a consequence of the closure, the LEGO Universe staff has today been informed
that the ‘Play Well Studios’ in Louisville, Colorado and the game’s marketing
function in Billund, Denmark will be closed. This will affect 115 employees. All
affected employees will be offered assistance in finding new jobs inside or
outside the LEGO Group.
LEGO.com
Source from LEGO Group.
-end of report-
Anyone with thoughts or ideas as to what LEGO could have change or added to LEGO
Universe? Sort of a... what if?
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