Meta and its kids’ studio Ready at Dawn today announced plans to shut down the free-to-play multiplayer game. VR echowith plans to shut down the servers coming August 1st.
VR echo It’s had a multi-story journey, originally launching as an exclusive title for the Oculus Rift in 2017. In 2020, the game made the jump to Quest, allowing for multiplayer play between Rift and Quest players. Shortly thereafter, Meta announced that it had acquired the game’s developer, Ready at Dawn.
And although it stands as one of the The best and most popular free titles in the Quest StoreMeta announced that it plans to permanently shut down the game on August 1st. according to An advertisement from Ready at Dawnthe main reason behind the planned shutdown was for the studio to “get together to focus on our next project”.
Although it isn’t specifically stated, it’s hard to imagine the broader layoffs at Meta (and other big tech companies) unrelated to the announcement. Especially considering that Ready at Dawn released its last game, second echo color, more than a year ago; Ostensibly, the studio has been doing well on its “next project” for some time now.
In addition to being one of the most popular free multiplayer games on the platform, VR echo It also had one of the strongest in-app purchase offers of any VR title to date, with a battle pass-style system that allowed players to pay for the chance to unlock cosmetic rewards over seven seasons. Unfortunately, the studio has confirmed that no refunds will be given for game content.
As a parting gift, at least, the studio says players who play the game between now and the time it closes will get a stack of premium cosmetics for free:
From now until August 1, 2023, play only one match of either Echo Combat or Arena to unlock:
- All Epic + Rare Body / Booster / Booster Sets from Echo Pass Seasons 1–6
Season 7 rewards will be released at a later date- All kinds of chassis
- All non-3D rewards from Echo Pass Seasons 1-6
Season 7 rewards will be released at a later date- All Echo Store items
Including starter package- All rewards from previous events
- Some previously unreleased bonuses
The following rewards will not be included in the event
- VRML Rewards
- LE2 chassis
- Rare Legendary Hulk / Booster / Booster sets from the previous 7 seasons
- Track leveling rewards
settlement path
- We will now be awarding all Leveling Path items at Level 1 so that everyone can access these rewards without affecting the quality of matchmaking.
Echo Store
- We will be putting all Legendary Skeletons / Booster / Booster sets on sale in the Echo Store at a discounted price until the game is shut down.
And last but not least, Ready at Dawn confirmed it Fighting echoThe less-playable FPS variant of the game (which didn’t make the jump to Quest) will also be discontinued starting August 1st, and is no longer actually available for purchase.