MMOs come and go, with many just fading into obscurity. Matrix Online did things a little differently and brought an apocalypse.
When an MMO dies, it usually comes at the end of a long period of decline as the servers wink out like cold stars. Not so with Matrix Online, where the death of the game was made into an event. The game’s graphics were changed to look like the simulation was falling apart, with ash raining down as the sky decompiled and angels and demons appearing to terrorize the city.
Matrix Online went live in the Spring of 2005 and outlasted rivals such as Tabula Rasa and Hellgate: London. Old subscribers were invited back free of charge to experience the end of the Matrix and old and new fans alike partied and fought as the world crashed down around them.
You have to give Sony Online Entertainment credit for opting for ‘bang’ over ‘whimper’. The servers went down at 12:01 am Pacific Daylight Time, rest in peace Matrix Online.
Source: Boing Boing
