Matrix Online Coming to an End

Even Neo can't stop this one.

The Matrix Online (MxO) has been on the ropes since its launch in March 2005. Originally published by Warner Bros. and Sega, the game switched publishers in June 2005 as Warner Bros. and Sony Online Entertainment worked out a deal to make the game part of the Sony lineup. However, that ride is about to come to an end as SOE has announced it will be discontinuing service for The Matrix Online. As of June 1st, 2009, SOE will suspend commercial services for MxO. Players can continue to log in and play until July 31st, 2009, when the game will officially come to an end.

To make sure MxO goes out with a bang, SOE will be holding a world ending event set to take place in the final two weeks of operation. If you've been a part of the MxO community over the years, make sure you jack in one last time and help bring down Mega City in the final chapter of MxO.

Dear MxO Subscriber,

We want to inform you that on June 1, 2009, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) will suspend commercial services of THE MATRIX ONLINE (MxO). However, SOE will continue to operate the game service and players will still be able to play MxO through July 31, 2009.

As of June 1, 2009, SOE will no longer offer customer support or provide updates for MxO, and active subscribers with accounts in good standing will not be billed after that date. MxO subscribers who have prepaid subscription time that extends their subscription period past June 1, 2009 will receive a pro-rated refund for any such pre-paid excess subscription payments*. Such refunds are expected to be issued by October 1, 2009.

We welcome those active MxO subscribers in good standing to play one or all of the following SOE massively-multiplayer online PC games at full paid subscriber status at no cost between June 1, 2009 and July 31, 2009 (subject to the terms and conditions described below) using the same Station Account you use to subscribe to MxO**: Free Realms™, EverQuest®, EverQuest® II, and Star Wars Galaxies™. To access and download the game software for EverQuest, EverQuest II, or Star Wars Galaxies, begin by downloading Station Launcher here for free: http://launcher.station.sony.com/. To initiate the download of Station Launcher simply click on the "DOWNLOAD BETA" button. Once the download is complete, Station Launcher will serve as your one stop shop for access to all the identified online games except Free Realms, which can be found at www.freerealms.com.

We value having you in our player community and hope that you will find a new home in one of these other SOE games during this trial period.

During the last two weeks that MxO will be available, we intend to initiate a world-ending event and invite our active MxO subscribers with accounts in good standing to participate in bringing Mega City down together. We will go out with the same level of dramatic in-game event that has kept this game exciting over the years. Get ready to jack in and become part of the final chapter of the story!

We appreciate your loyalty and commitment and look forward to seeing you in another SOE game.

Sincerely,
Sony Online Entertainment

Kind of sad to see this go, i had high hopes for MxO when it was first announced back in the day, however the beta showed me the game was pretty much doomed to fail. I also tried playing it a bit while i had the SOE All Access Pass but, the game never really had much going for it. Besides being a good idea it was very much a product of the "hey, MMOs seem to be really kicking it off big time now, lets put some crap out and hope to milk the franchise" period that was about 3-4 years ago. Thus doomed to fail.

RIP