Wildstar, and developer Carbine Studios, are shutting down

Carbine Studios, the maker of the free-to-play sci-fi MMO Wildstar, is being shut down. The closure, reported by Kotaku, will also bring about the end of Wildstar itself.

"Today, we are closing Carbine Studios and will begin the process of winding WildStar down to ultimately shutter the game,” Wildstar parent NCsoft said in a statement.

"WildStar players who have spent money within the game will be refunded purchases from July 1, 2018 until the payment system is shut off. We are also in the process of identifying the teams that will be doing the work to bring WildStar to a close. These decisions are very difficult to make and we are in the midst of shifting as many of our teammates as possible into other roles within the organization."

Wildstar launched in 2014 and we liked it a lot, although we also took note of the risks inherent in launching a subscription-based MMOs in a WoW-dominated world. Sure enough, it went free to play a little over a year later, and then came to Steam a year after that. But its peak player count on Steam was just over 5000, and the average concurrent player count quickly tailed off into triple digits; it hasn't been above 200 since October 2017.

A date for the Wildstar shutdown hasn't been announced.

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.