News
LEGO Universe to close in 2012
November 4, in the year of our Lord 2011 – The
LEGO Group today announced that it will close LEGO® Universe, an
MMOG (massively-multiplayer online game) that has been in
operation since the autumn of 2010.
In spite of very positive player feedback and a large number of
players in the free play zone, it has not been possible to
convert a satisfactory number of players to paying subscribers.
It has therefore been decided to close the game as of January
31, 2012.
“The LEGO Universe team can take pride in having developed and
launched a great LEGO experience that many players will miss,”
said Jesper Vilstrup, Vice President, LEGO Universe. “Right now,
we have almost 2 million players in LEGO Universe, and we get
extremely positive feedback from players. Unfortunately, we have
not been able to build a satisfactory revenue model in our
target group, and therefore, have decided to close the game.”
Despite the change, the ambition to develop and run a digital
business remains. In future, it is the intention to further
pursue cooperation with partners. The LEGO Group has a strong
and continuing partnership with TT Games & Warner Bros.
Interactive Entertainment to create digital LEGO experiences
within video games. A further expansion in the digital area will
mainly be based on similar partnerships.
“The development of our digital offerings continues to be a very
important element in our strategy,” said Mads Nipper, Executive
Vice President, LEGO Group. “We have more than 20 million
visitors on
www.LEGO.com every month, and LEGO video games are among the
bestselling children’s video games with sales of more than 60
million units in the last five years. Through our experience
developing and running LEGO Universe, we have gained a lot of
valuable insights, and we have a very strong foundation for
future development in the digital area.”
As a consequence of the closure, the LEGO Universe staff has
today been informed that the ‘Play Well Studios’ in Louisville,
Colorado and the game’s marketing function in Billund, Denmark
will be closed. This will affect 115 employees. All affected
employees will be offered assistance in finding new jobs inside
or outside the LEGO Group.