Electronic Arts has announced that they will be stopping development of Dawngate, the company's multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) designed to not only rival competitors like League of Legends and Dota 2 but also push the genre forward.
"I know this is disappointing news for our community, which has been so supportive and loyal. To all of you who have graciously given us your time and valuable feedback during our beta period, we'd first like to thank you," General Manager Matt Bromberg said.
"Dawngate has been in beta for almost 18 months, including a full open beta for the past six months. Through that time, we’ve taken a lot of feedback from players and delivered lots of new features and innovations. And although the game has grown, we’re not seeing the progress we’d hoped for. This isn’t the outcome we wanted, but beta testing is about learning and improving, and ultimately, about making difficult decisions about how to proceed."
Dawngate will remain playable for the next 90 days, and EA promises a full refund for anyone who spent money on the game during the beta. EA says refunds will start to process within the next 10 days.
"On behalf of the entire team at Waystone Games and EA, I want once again to thank all our players for being part of this journey. Your straight-up feedback and the friendly reception we received all over the world at events was extremely encouraging and important to us. We appreciate it," Bromberg concluded.
Sometimes, competing against powerhouses like League of Legends and Dota 2 is easier envisioned than actually done. As the MOBA genre slowly mimics that of the MMORPG, in terms of the number of competitors fighting for a piece of the pie, I expect we'll see many other MOBAs begin to falter.
