Stop SoulCalibur: Lost Swords From Closing!

SoulCalibur: Lost Swords is a freemium online-only PS3 game, released in February 2014. An offshoot of the SoulCalibur fighting game series with RPG elements, several thousand gamers play Lost Swords daily. Strong communities have formed around Lost Swords (like the forum at GameFAQs).

Despite being accessible to all gamers, Lost Swords boasts costly in-game purchases, for which many gamers have spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars over the game's life to better enjoy it. (At one point, unlocking the game's four premium characters totaled $330 USD.)

Since the publisher BANDAI NAMCO is large and well established, many players believed their in-game purchases would be rewarded with a reasonable lifespan for the online-only game.

However...

Roughly 1.5 years after the game's release, BANDAI NAMCO has decided to end Lost Swords - thereby invalidating gamers' time and money spent toward building their characters and equipment. The game's closure occurs on November 30, 2015.

BANDAI NAMCO is a multinational corporation, with capital listed at 10 billion Yen (around $83 million) - unlikely to experience financial trouble to close an active game. Since Lost Swords was played by a dedicated (and well paying) audience, there was also little reason to close the game due to lack of player support.

Rather, the decision seems to be motivated by profits in an effort to close a game that - despite players' high expense in time and money - proved too niche to the publisher.

Gamers who are used to freemium games understand that the experience is only good while the game is online. Small developers often close freemium games due to lack of funding or due to a lack of active (paying) gamer support.

But BANDAI NAMCO is not a small company... and Lost Swords has had plenty of active (paid) support from gamers.

We the undersigned acknowledge that:

Players have shown BANDAI NAMCO trust by supporting SoulCalibur: Lost Swords with their time and money. In return, BAMCO NAMCO should return players' trust by continuing the game.

1.5 years is simply too short a time to end a game that actively encouraged players to spend thousands of hours and dollars during the game's life.

For some players, the announced closure of SoulCalibur: Lost Swords after such a short time is offensive not only to those individuals as gamers, but as people with active lives and limited financial resources.

Many players of SoulCalibur: Lost Swords want to believe that BANDAI NAMCO does not want to just "take the money and run" - and that it will not take players, their loyalties and their wallets for granted.

For some players, BANDAI NAMCO extending the life of Lost Swords may even be important for their continued support of all future games published by BANDAI NAMCO.

We the undersigned urge BANDAI NAMCO to:

* Extend the life of SoulCalibur: Lost Swords
* Continue developing SoulCalibur: Lost Swords
* Port SoulCalibur: Lost Swords to PS4 where it can attract a larger, next generation audience

If BANDAI NAMCO personnel underestimate the dedication of SoulCalibur: Lost Swords active players, please remember that the game has a loyal following on the PS3 - a last generation console. On PS4, a next generation console, its following should be much greater.

Most players of SoulCalibur: Lost Swords want to keep playing - and to continue building our cherished in-game characters and equipment - for years to come (or at least considerably longer than a mere 1.5 years). We hope BANDAI NAMCO will consider giving us a chance to do that.

We the players hope BANDAI NAMCO understands our frustrations and will kindly consider this petition.