Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes shutting down

Mythic's Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes will shut down on March 29, having never officially launched. It simply didn't make enough money for EA to keep running it. The free-to-play PvP arena battle 'em up entered open beta in April 2012, where it has stayed ever since, and shall until EA turns off the servers next month.

"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," producer James Casey said in the announcement. "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."

He describes the Warhammer Online spin-off as "a grand experiment," saying Mythic used it to test new server technology and "learn more about the free-to-play market." And have fun killing men, of course.

While Casey dances around the issue of why EA is shutting down WoH, the FAQ states it plainly: "Unfortunately, the project could not meet its financial goals to be sustained."

Any real money that players have invested in WoH's virtual currency Gems will vanish when the game shuts down, so you'd better get spending if you don't want to entirely waste it. Mythic plans to release a load of "work in progress" characters before then, so players can blow Gems on them to try something new at least. Anyone who's played WoH this year will receive free items in Warhammer Online too.