I have not played Shadowverse in… whoa, about eight years. So, while it affects me personally very little, it did still come as a shock recently when I found out that Shadowverse had been put on maintenance mode last year while Cygames rolls out a sequel called Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond.
In case the website goes down too, I guess.
Of course, this is not the first time a game company has released a direct sequel to a Live Service game while hoping everyone migrates to the new one. EverQuest immediately comes to mind as a classic example, along with the original Guild Wars. But I haven’t quite heard about this happening in the CCG space before. Maybe Magic Online vs Magic Arena counts? Anyway, I suppose maintenance mode is better than oblivion (see SolForge, Hex, Artifact, etc), but there is an extra bit of salt in the wound when there’s a sequel being developed with only the barest of cosmetic carryovers and zero of the, you know, potentially purchased cards.
Which sort of begs the question of why there is a “sequel” in the first place. I mean, I’m assuming the answer isn’t simply cash cash money. Technical debt? The new game does look very slightly flashier, and would offer the opportunity to switch up game engines. Also, there is a “metaverse” looking lobby with chibi avatars, fishing, mahjong, and more for… reasons. Presumably Cygames knows what their audience wants.
…or perhaps they are looking for a new audience. In which case, caveat emptor.
In An Age 
Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond… your wallet
Feb 10
Posted by Azuriel
I have not played Shadowverse in… whoa, about eight years. So, while it affects me personally very little, it did still come as a shock recently when I found out that Shadowverse had been put on maintenance mode last year while Cygames rolls out a sequel called Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond.
Of course, this is not the first time a game company has released a direct sequel to a Live Service game while hoping everyone migrates to the new one. EverQuest immediately comes to mind as a classic example, along with the original Guild Wars. But I haven’t quite heard about this happening in the CCG space before. Maybe Magic Online vs Magic Arena counts? Anyway, I suppose maintenance mode is better than oblivion (see SolForge, Hex, Artifact, etc), but there is an extra bit of salt in the wound when there’s a sequel being developed with only the barest of cosmetic carryovers and zero of the, you know, potentially purchased cards.
Which sort of begs the question of why there is a “sequel” in the first place. I mean, I’m assuming the answer isn’t simply cash cash money. Technical debt? The new game does look very slightly flashier, and would offer the opportunity to switch up game engines. Also, there is a “metaverse” looking lobby with chibi avatars, fishing, mahjong, and more for… reasons. Presumably Cygames knows what their audience wants.
…or perhaps they are looking for a new audience. In which case, caveat emptor.
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