A
post on the Daybreak Games website from company president Russell Shanks
announces that they are cancelling plans for
EverQuest Next, a planned
reboot of the classic MMORPG (thanks Tom). Here's word:
I’m writing today
to let you know that, after much review and consideration, Daybreak is
discontinuing development of EverQuest Next.
For the past 20 years EverQuest has been a labor of love. What started as a deep
passion of ours, as game creators, grew into a much larger passion shared by
you, millions of players and Daybreakers alike. Watching EverQuest’s ability to
entertain and bring people together has inspired and humbled us. It’s shaped our
culture and has emboldened us to take aggressive risks with our game ideas and
products. When we decided to create the next chapter in the EverQuest journey,
we didn’t aim low. We set out to make something revolutionary.
For those familiar with the internals of game development, you know that
cancellations are a reality we must face from time to time. Inherent to the
creative process are dreaming big, pushing hard and being brutally honest with
where you land. In the case of EverQuest Next, we accomplished incredible feats
that astonished industry insiders. Unfortunately, as we put together the pieces,
we found that it wasn’t fun. We know you have high standards when it comes to
Norrath and we do too. In final review, we had to face the fact that EverQuest
Next would not meet the expectations we – and all of you – have for the worlds
of Norrath.
The future of the EverQuest franchise as a whole is important to us here at
Daybreak. EverQuest in all its forms is near and dear to our hearts. EverQuest
and EverQuest II are going strong. Rest assured that our passion to grow the
world of EverQuest remains undiminished.