The Triad Wars beta is closing down in January

The free-to-play online game Triad Wars, a follow-up to the 2012 action game Sleeping Dogs, was announced in the fall of 2013 and went into closed beta earlier this year. Chris spent some time with it and came away reasonably impressed, saying that while the beta was very limited in scope, he could "definitely sense some promise" in it. Alas, that promise may not be achieved, as the beta is being closed down.

"Since the start of the Triad Wars Closed Beta this year, diligent Enforcers have run rampant through the streets of Hong Kong, killing rivals and building Empires. During this time we have gathered immense amounts of feedback, information, and data on the game," developer United Front Games announced today. "We’ve loved seeing how you’ve played Triad Wars but we know it wasn’t right for many of you so we’re letting you know today that we are going to close the beta and service on January 20th 2016 at 12 p.m. Pacific Standard Time."

Until the shutdown, UFG will make the in-game Gold free of charge, so players can go properly nuts over the last four weeks of operation. It sounds like refunds will be issued for unused quantities of purchased gold, as the studio said it would post a message about dealing with refunds in the near future.

It's possible that the shutdown of the beta is just part of the development process, in the same way that Blizzard pulled the plug on the Overwatch beta so it could fiddle and futz, and then bring it back (hopefully) in January. But the language of the announcement, and the complete absence of any mention of a potential return at some point in the hazy future, makes me think that this is a very unlikely scenario. I've reached out to UFG and Square Enix to ask what the future holds and will update when I receive a reply.

Thanks, IndustryGamer.

Update: Square Enix has confirmed that Triad Wars will be shut down for good on January 20, and that while the game will continue to run until then, no further purchases will be accepted.

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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.