Scrolls servers go offline next week, Mojang hopes to make the software public

I'd completely forgotten about this, but Mojang halted development of Scrolls, the CCG/strategy game that landed it in a beef with Bethesda, in mid-2015. At the time it promised to keep the game servers online until at least July 2016, a commitment that it ended up seriously over-delivering on. But the studio announced earlier this week that on February 13—next Tuesday—the plug will finally be pulled.

Mojang will hold a couple of special events leading into the shutdown, beginning with an opportunity to play with "a few people from around the office," starting sometime after 9 am ET on February 9. On February 11, beginning at 12 pm ET, it will hold a "short and sweet tournament," open to all, with no restrictions on decks.

The biggest news for fans is that while the server shutdown means the current client will cease to function, Mojang is looking to make the server software available to the public, along with a modified client that will be able to connect to it.

"While we are still unable to guarantee this will happen or set a date, we have high hopes that we'll be able to do this in the next few weeks or months," lead designer Måns Olson wrote.

"If and when this happens, the game client/server will not be open source. However, the game database will be fully editable by the community. This would allow for some degree of customization, including tweaking card stats, making new cards out of existing rules, changing various configurable settings (such as gold gain), and modifying the set list of trials."

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.