After almost four years of operation, Sony Online's The Matrix Online is set to finally close down in two months time. The announcement comes, unsurprisingly, after a steady decline of subscribers and the departure of Ben Chamberlain¡ªthe man who provided content updates for the game almost entirely on his own¡ªearlier this year.
The news of the Matrix Online's closure was broken via the its official forums by the game's producer, Daniel Myers. "It seems not so long ago I was jumping into Mara Central and going toe-to-toe with other devs at E3 2004," Myers wrote. "I had no idea this journey would take me to a whole different company, wow gold managing a major revision of the game, and my first producing gig... now we¡¯ve seen how far the rabbit hole goes and it¡¯s time to wake up from that dream (or go back to sleep, depending how you look at it). On July 31, 2009, we will be jacking out for the last time. It¡¯s a bittersweet moment for everyone involved with the game; as a player or as a developer."
While the game never sported the largest audience, especially compared to titles like World of Warcraft, it was known for its dedicated community that helped further the storyline originally established by the movie trilogy.
"To this day, I have never worked with a community as dedicated as The Matrix Online community," Myers said. Myers also promised the game's players that a special end-of-the-world event (theoretically like what happened with Tabula Rasa) was in store for them, but refused to say anything further.
