Transformers Universe (TU) Closes
Transformers Universe was a game being developed by Jagex. It was still in its Beta state when it closed down and never made it to launch. This was particularly saddening to The Syndicate because we were heavily involved in the early phases of testing. Jagex reached out and invited us to be their early testers. We supplied dozens of members who ran numerous tests and logged many hours playing the game. Our verdict was pretty simple: The game was NOT ready for the public. It was missing features. It had some features poorly implemented. It was lacking in depth. It needed 'more'. And we were very clear and explicit as to what more it needed via formal reports, many pages long, that carefully spelled out the What, How and Why. Those reports were well received by the developers themselves who shared the view and liked the ideas. The problem was... Jagex senior management did not share the view. For reasons unknown, they were 'sure' the game was going to be much more successful than we told them it was (in its current state) and rapidly went public with the beta. Things went downhill from there. The communtiy was not impressed. Players dropped out of the beta extremely fast. There was no traction in the press. In short, the TU brand name was crushed. And, as we have likely all experienced, once a MMOs brand name is crushed, it is very hard to ever fix it. If only they had listened to their development team and to our feedback, the result could have been different.