Asheron's Call 2 Silenced

In a posting on the official Asheron's Call 2 Web site, Jeffrey Anderson, CEO of developer and publisher Turbine Entertainment, has announced the impending death of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

As one might expect, reactions on the official Asheron's Call 2 forums run the gamut of negativity, with some people swearing off the company forever and others expressing sorrow for their now-doomed high-level characters.

The original Asheron's Call is still up and running, and Turbine has not given any indication of changing that. On the official Asheron's Call forums, Turbine's director of community relations (who posts on both games' forums under the name Calandryll) was quick to address user concerns.

Turbine Tweaks its Business Model

The trend toward game creators turning to the Web and selling directly to consumers continued today with news out of Westwood, Massachusetts, that Asheron's Call creator/publisher Turbine Entertainment was changing its business model. Starting now, the company says it is newly focused on "creating, publishing, and distributing premier online games and entertainment to consumers of all ages."

The key twist implied in today's announcement is that Turbine would become a retail channel unto itself.