Planet Explorers Goes F2P Because The Multiplayer Code Was Lost
Over the years, we've seen a lot of reasons for why games go free-to-play. This, however, is a new one.
Pathea Games' multiplayer sandbox title Planet Explorers is no longer multiplayer. That's because, according to the dev team, the server code base for multiplayer functionality was lost. The problems appeared to start with a server outage on May 5 and, despite seeming hopeful in an update on June 6, the devs finally threw in the towel on June 24.
In that final message, developer Kkiablo called multiplayer a "lost cause unless we completely rewrite the code from scratch," which was deemed impossible due to it requiring software and code that is no longer available. As such, the game is still available, but only in single-player form -- and it's now totally free. You can check it out for yourself on Steam.
Kkiablo concluded his message by thanking the Planet Explorers players for their support, while vowing that his company will be working on a sequel to the game, a project that would be starting next year. Hopefully, they'll have learned to make better backups by then.
About the Author
Jason Winter is a veteran gaming journalist, he brings a wide range of experience to MMOBomb, including two years with Beckett Media where he served as the editor of the leading gaming magazine Massive Online Gamer. He has also written professionally for several gaming websites.
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I know all too well about losing code I've lost loads over the years and it HURTS! but when its gone its gone! Most people think you can code it back! you can't! The thing with hand built code is that its hand built and can not be duplicated.
So good on these devs for being great about something very tragic.