Demon's Souls Servers Staying Online in North America

[Emabulator]

Game Informer is reporting that ATLUS has announced they plan to keep the Demon's Souls servers online in North America for the "foreseeable future."

ATLUS said today it's extending the North American online servers for Demon's Souls. The game was originally going offline at the end of this month. No specific time table has been set, but ATLUS said the servers will be left on for the "foreseeable future."

"We're incredibly excited to be able to announce that the Demon's Souls online experience will persist for a while longer," stated Tim Pivnicny, Vice President of Marketing and Sales at ATLUS. "While it originally seemed as though it would be unfeasible for us to continue to sustain the servers, a number of developments have made it possible for us to continue to invest in and support our fans as they have continued to invest in and support us and Demon's Souls.

Thanks, VG247.

[Blog]

This game is so much better with the online elements. If anyone is thinking about playing this and hasn't yet, grab it soon before they change their minds.

[Mazzicc]

I honestly suspect this is because the costs of running servers for the small amount of people still playing this are cheaper than trying to buy other publicity for their titles.

Not a bad thing, just saying I don't think they're doing this because of sheer popularity of a game that old that has a sequel.

[Evil Avatar]

It makes a lot of sense. If they want to continue to build the franchise and get people to invest in the sequel, they need to keep the server online on the greatest hits title.

I'm glad to hear it, I never finished Demon's Souls and I wouldn't mind going back to it.

[Emabulator]

Originally Posted by Evil Avatar

It makes a lot of sense. If they want to continue to build the franchise and get people to invest in the sequel, they need to keep the server online on the greatest hits title.

I'm glad to hear it, I never finished Demon's Souls and I wouldn't mind going back to it.

I was glad to hear it too. I'm going to grab it in my next order from Amazon.

[Metal Khaos]

Good news, and a win for all fans of the series. I never played the first, but now I might eventually get around too it down the road.

I absolutely loved Dark Souls. Only saw a friend playing for a few minutes, but those few minutes really drew me in. Now for the PC release in the next few months.

[stalazon]

If this was for a publicity stunt, where's the announcement for the next game? If it doesn't show up in the next month or so it'd be a wasted opportunity to capitalize, no?

[badclam]

this is the second time from software announced keeping the servers up,if you haven't played it,pick it up.

[Azzy]

buy this game, even if you don't like it.

[Agnostic Pope]

Now that Dark Souls is out there is ZERO reasons why you should be playing the inferior title.

[Metal Khaos]

I've heard the first one really is pretty inferior to the sequel. Is it that much of a leap though Pope?

[DeluxE]

Originally Posted by Mazzicc

I honestly suspect this is because the costs of running servers for the small amount of people still playing this are cheaper than trying to buy other publicity for their titles.

Not a bad thing, just saying I don't think they're doing this because of sheer popularity of a game that old that has a sequel.

...Except it's the publisher who has to keep the servers running, and Atlus isn't working with From Software anymore.

Dark Souls was published by Namco/Bandai.

[PacerDawn]

I dunno. For me, hearing this isn't "Yay, they are keeping the servers online for a while longer!", It's, 'WhyTF did you screw up my online experience by forcing me to use your servers which you can take down at any time?". This doesn't make me want to run right out and buy the game, this actually makes me want to avoid it.

I'm getting really tired of everyone starting to make their "online experience" hosted server only. Yesterday, online meant if you cranked the game up 10 years later, you could still play online. Today, online has an expiration date.

Companies these days would rather kill old games completely if they could, rather than having them around years later to be played. Not a good thing for gamers, IMHO.

[Mazzicc]

Originally Posted by DeluxE

...Except it's the publisher who has to keep the servers running, and Atlus isn't working with From Software anymore.

Dark Souls was published by Namco/Bandai.

FTA:

ATLUS said today it's extending the North American online servers for Demon's Souls.

(no emphasis, proper name is all caps, according to article)

Seems to imply to me that Atlus is the one deciding if the servers come down or not, not Namco/Bandai. I suppose it's possible N/B is doing it and Atlus is announcing it, but I would think if N/B was footing the bill, they'd want their name out there too.

Also, the article implies Atlus is the publisher in it's wording, and Wiki lists Atlus as a publisher on the title. Did they self-publish in the US?

[Ozymandis]

Originally Posted by Agnostic Pope

Now that Dark Souls is out there is ZERO reasons why you should be playing the inferior title.

Demon's Souls isn't so much inferior as it is different. I actually kind of prefer it to Dark Souls since mage builds were so nerfed in the newer game.

It's worth playing both, IMO these are both top-5/top-10 games of the entire generation.

[Agnostic Pope]

Originally Posted by Metal Khaos

I've heard the first one really is pretty inferior to the sequel. Is it that much of a leap though Pope?

You would have to play both titles and see for yourself. Dark Souls is superior in almost everything besides "narrative".

[Metal Khaos]

Alright. I'll try to get around to it sometime. Well I don't care about the narrative as much. I actually enjoy how the world and story is presented in the game. By dialogue and items and everything else. Youtube dude EpicNameBro posts a lot of cool videos about the lore and everything.

I'll probably run through Dark Souls on PC once it comes out since I enjoyed it on Xbox so much. And I know I'll always be able to run my PC games.

[DeluxE]

Originally Posted by Mazzicc

FTA:

(no emphasis, proper name is all caps, according to article)

Seems to imply to me that Atlus is the one deciding if the servers come down or not, not Namco/Bandai. I suppose it's possible N/B is doing it and Atlus is announcing it, but I would think if N/B was footing the bill, they'd want their name out there too.

Also, the article implies Atlus is the publisher in it's wording, and Wiki lists Atlus as a publisher on the title. Did they self-publish in the US?

Yeah, that was my point - ATLUS are not doing this to promote a sequel they theyselves aren't publishing. If anything, From Software likely gave them some cash to keep the servers running. They are the only ones who benifit in this situation.

[Metal Khaos]

Whoever is doing it and however it is done, it's overall a win for fans of Demon Souls. Even if it's only a little bit longer.