When Atlus originally took over North American publishing duties for From Software's Demon's Souls (Sony originally published the game in Japan, but opted to allow other publishers to bring the game to additional territories), the game's EULA stated that the online servers would be supported for at least six months after its initial release, at which point they were free to discontinue support if the game wasn't successful. It was an absolutely reasonable assumption that a game as impenetrable and messed-up hard as Demon's Souls would not, in fact, be successful in the West.
Just looking at the Tower Knight makes me tense up. Good thing he's easier now.
Against all odds, however, Demon's Souls ended up being a cult success. As a result, Atlus will extend their server support until March next year. To celebrate their choice to not flip the "off" switch, all of the Demon's Souls servers are currently filled with that Pure White Soul Tendency that makes the game much easier (at the cost of a lower drop rate for rarer items and crafting materials).
So back to Boletaria, everyone! Ostrava isn't going to rescue himself, and I need to show Yurt the back side of my Meat Cleaver. I've already beaten the game once, but then, I'm not going to get all 712 skill points by whining in the Nexus.
Sweet bit of news this. I'm going back in. Didn't know the servers had such a short window to begin with.
It gets less fun knowing you can't ruin someone else's game. Also, the world tendency doesn't change. You can play the whole game on its own still, but the online features are simply not around.
I think a reasonable period of time would be 5 years after the games release.
And you won't be able to summon people to help you or vice versa. And there won't be any hints.
Man, Demon's Souls is gonna suck when they stop supporting the online.
Demons Souls is the hidden gem/ Dark Horse of 2009, but if online gets taken away, so does 75% of the game (including one incredible boss battle... aka the Old Monk).
Dude the game launched in October 2009, for a non monthly/cash shop type game keeping the servers up for over a year is rather nice of them. It isn't like the game sold millions of copies like MW2 or something. Of course that also blows since it is about triple the game MW2 is as well but thats just me talking.
At least Kessler got it right when he said "much deserved success". Now you just need to finish stacking your comics, man up, and join in on some competitive pvp action! There is even a pvp tournament I know of coming up in a few weeks that should have around 40 players in it.
EDIT: one too many until in the first paragraph matt.
The pure depth, simplicity and addictive soul collection have me hooked.
I don't get all the negativity concerning the alleged difficulty of the game. I have never found the game to be challenging. Just amazingly complex melee combat requiring patience and finesse to pull off succesfully. This is a game definitely not built for the MW2 generation of noobage.
I don't think the comment about everyone being stuck in white world tendancy is true. Being able to change from white to black is important in the end game. Nobody would be able to collect pure ore's or hunt primevals for colorless demon souls. Not to mention satsuki and other unique BWT events.
Perhaps re-read the press release and repost matt. What does the press release actually say?
edit: Oh my god, its actually true. American online servers are locked at pure white world tendancy. Thats a kick in the balls. Strange decision there.