NetEase Games’ open-world multiplayer VR experience, Nostos, is shutting down less than two years after it first launched.
Nostos turned heads when it was announced in 2018, showcasing gorgeous art and promising endless multiplayer adventures. It hit Steam in December 2019 with optional VR support, where it accumulated mixed reviews. Today, though, NetEase announced that “due to changes in business development”, Nostos would be closing down on June 16th. The game’s already been de-listed on Steam (unless you have a direct link) and anyone that purchased the title after November 30, 2020 will be entitled to a full refund.
“We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the termination of Nostos’ operation and ask for your understanding that we share your feelings about the upcoming parting of Nostos,” developer wrote. In total, the game will have been active for around a year and a half.
What went wrong with Nostos? Well its trailers were certainly polished but often didn’t reflect the actual in-game experience. Check out the official ‘gameplay’ trailer below, for example, which uses headsets that the game never actually launched on.
It’s also hard to succeed in the nascent PC VR market, though the optional flatscreen support would have helped offset that. The game also landed on PS4 last December (without VR support), though this clearly wasn’t enough to save it. NetEase doesn’t appear to have any other VR content in the pipeline at this point in time.
Did you play Nostos? What did you make of the experience? Let us know in the comments below!
