Yesterday it was announced that Astellia was being shut down on October 29th, less than two years since it first launched here in the West. Unfortunately for those hoping it would stay active, t's been made known that the free-to-play variant, Astellia Royal, will be following suit, shutting down this October as well.
The date of the shut down will be the same as Astellia, October 29th, with the sale of items being suspended as of today. Astellia Royal only launched this past March as a free-to-play spin-off of the full Astellia, though it seems it wasn't long for this world.
Via the official website:
"Unfortunately, we have the decision to terminate Astellia Royal NA/EU service.We regretfully inform you that Astellia Royal NA/EU service will be closed on October 29th, 2021(Fri).We would like to thank you for playing Astellia Royal until now, and please find below for detailed schedule of service termination.[Astellia Royal NA/EU Service Termination Schedule Notice]1.Service Termination: Astellia Royal NA/EU Server2. NA/EU Service Termination Schedule:[KST] 2021. 10. 29. (Fri) 12:00[PDT] 2021. 10. 28. (Thu) 20:00[UTC] 2021. 10. 29. (Fri) 03:003. End of Paid Gem Sales Schedule:[KST] 2021. 8. 12. (Thu) 12:00[PDT] 2021. 8. 11. (Wed) 20:00[UTC] 2021. 8. 12. (Thu) 03:00* It is not possible to purchase paid items after end of paid item sales, but purchased items can be used in game until service termination schedule.4. Closed Official Homepage Schedule:[KST] 2021. 10. 29. (Fri) 12:00[PDT] 2021. 10. 28. (Thu) 20:00[UTC] 2021. 10. 29. (Fri) 03:00"
No actual reasoning was given for either Astellia or Astellia Royal's closure, however if Steam Charts are any indication, it could simply be that there wasn't the playerbase to support the MMOs any longer. Recently, according to Steam Charts, the full version of Astellia has been seeing averages of around 20 or so players, while Royal has seen around 30 players the last month on average.
