Warhammer Online: Wrath of the Heroes beta servers will be closed at the end of the month. Unfortunately, this isn’t part of a plan to launch the game proper but a quiet death to Mythic’s online brawler.
According to the recently published FAQ this is because “Mythic as a studio is undergoing a paradigm shift as we shift our focus to mobile. As part of this pivot, we had to make a few changes and reallocate resources to support this new direction. As such, we took a long look at Wrath of Heroes and despite its strong IP, gameplay, and community support; we decided not to continue the service past its Beta and instead concentrate those resources on our new endeavors.
Writing in a short blog post, Wrath of Heroes’ producer James Casey said:
“Launched in Beta just over a year ago, the free-to-play battle arena version of Warhammer Online was a grand experiment. We were able to test new server technology, learn more about the free-to-play market, and engage in endless quick, down and dirty, three-way battles any time of day or night. On all of these fronts, we were able to make great inroads and insights and deliver a fast and frenetic game.
“As a producer for this game from the start, I am proud of the hard work and effort that made the game possible and I feel sad that it is not able to carry on. I think we created something special and I would not trade the time creating it or playing it (on all those Friday Fight Fests and anonymously almost every day) for anything.
“I hope that those who have played it at any time in the past will stick through to the end, enjoy the special pricing so you can try out everything before it goes, and try out a few of the special things that were still in our pipeline.”
If you’ve any unspent gems left in Wrath of the Heroes you best get to spending them because EA are not offering any form of refund or currency transfer between their games. However, Mythic say in the FAQ that “during the time leading up to March 29th, 2013, we will be introducing many of our “Work In Progress” Heroes – three or more each week! – In order to get as many as possible into the hands of our loyal players before the End of service.”
Also, if you’ve played between 1 January 2013 and 27 February, or had gems in your account before the 27 February then you will receive a Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning war chest.
It includes:
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1 month of free game-time
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Wrath Chest, which includes:
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Ledger of Learnedness x2
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Becoming Popular x2
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Baker’s Mistake
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Concentrated Journeyman’s Elixir
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Case of Officer’s Phial of Adrenaline x2
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Case of Officer’s Healing Elixir x2
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Armor Crate
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Deed for Sturdy Mount
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War Chest
EA will be emailing a code to those who qualify soon.