Zenith: The Last City, one of the biggest VR MMORPGs released to date, will stop content development after this summer’s major update, its studio Ramen VR announced in a new YouTube video, as the studio turns to other projects. Servers will still remain up and major bugs will be addressed in what’s often called a “maintenance mode” in the gaming space.
The video recounts the journey of Ramen VR’s 2022 MMORPG, from start-up to a VR chart-topping launch, followed by a lack of player retention despite high acclaim. Despite what they call a “hail-mary” attempt in 2023 to rework the game in the face of declining sales, things didn’t look up, leading to the decision to stop development on Zenith and pivot to focus on other games.
Season 4, the last major content update of its type, will be released this August, focusing on new Infinite Realms dungeon-rush layouts and major bug fixes.
However, after this, Zenith will only work to keep servers up, with no future content updates nor game systems in the works; the team will also fix any major bugs, should they arise. There's no set date for any server closure, but the FAQ acknowledges that this is a costly venture, so if closures do happen, the developers assure players will be informed.
Anyone with the premium "Zennies" currency will get future prizes from future Ramen VR projects, but no refunds will be given. Those with Kickstarter custom weapons will also get them in the final update, as the team explains in its FAQ that either rewards have been distributed otherwise, or those with rewards have been contacted personally (with the exception of desktop versions, which garners a refund via the help desk).
Ramen VR currently has no other announced titles, but there are open positions as of the past month on its studio 's official site, implying that there is, indeed, work being done.
