Can an online video game die twice? Yes, apparently. Paragon: The Overprime, a competitive online multiplayer game built using assets and designs featured in Epic’s previously killed original Paragon, is being shut down in April.
A quick bit of history. Paragon, a third-person futuristic MOBA from Epic, launched via early access in 2016. While many, myself included, enjoyed the online game, it wasn’t a massive hit. Epic did tweak and improve Paragon a bit post-launch, but then a little video game called Fortnite happened (Editor’s note: Also not a massive hit right away, if you remember — David), and the company focused most of its resources on growing the popular battle royale into the juggernaut it has become.
In 2018, Epic officially announced that it was shutting down Paragon. But it also revealed a cool bit of news: All of the assets made for Paragon were going to become free to use for all Unreal devs. What followed were a few different attempts to recreate Paragon, including one from Netmarble that actually was able to get permission to use the original name and brand. Sadly, Paragon: The Overprime—-launched in December 2022—is shutting down, too.
On February 21, Netmarble—the studio behind Overpime—announced that the revived MOBA would be shut down on April 22, 2024. (Coincidentally, the original Paragon servers were shut down on April 26, 2018.) As of today, players can no longer purchase in-game content using real money.
In the message confirming the shutdown, the team behind Paragon: The Overprime thanked players for all the “love and support” they had shown the game since 2022.
“After careful consideration, we concluded that we will not be able to provide a stable and satisfying service moving forward,” explained Netmarble. “Because of this, we have made the decision to end the service on Monday, April 22nd, 2024.”
“We are deeply sorry for the unexpected and unfortunate termination of the service.
We deeply cherish the encouragement and support you have given us until now despite our shortcomings. We at Paragon: The Overprime sincerely thank you for all the love you’ve shown us.”
Will someone else try to revive Paragon again? Perhaps. But at this point, I’m not sure fans will be too excited as they’ll just be worried that death is once again lurking just around the corner.
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