Game Release and Cancellation Information
Nosgoth was a PC game that was being created by Square Enix and Psyonix that reached a late stage in development before it's cancellation. The following dates reflect the key stages in the games development:
Alpha opened: 15 October 2013
Closed Beta began: 27 February 2014
Open Beta started: 21 January 2015
Cancelled on: 8 April 2016
Servers closed: 31 May 2016
Official Nosgoth Blog Article
And so it begins...
Blog article posted after the first session of Alpha testing:
PUBLISHED ON THE NOSGOTH BLOG ON: 2013-10-15
AUTHOR: Bill Beacham, Square Enix
Hi,
I just wanted to say a big “thank you” to everyone who joined us in our first round of Closed Alpha testing on Tuesday evening. It was massively encouraging to see how rapidly everyone got to grips with all the different classes, and we were thrilled to see some great teamwork, brutal combat techniques, and unique gaming styles already emerging.
On the subject of teamwork, I personally loved seeing a Vampire get trapped by a Hunter’s Bola and then torched by an Alchemist’s Flamethrower just moments later. It’s that kind of coordination and cooperation that can make the Human warriors more than a match for their inhuman foes. Of course, playing as a Vampire had its fantastic moments too – seeing a Sentinel drop his Human prey from on high only for them to be snatched out of mid-air by a Reaver’s Pounce was unbelievably cool, and really drove home just how lethally entertaining these guys can be when they hunt in packs.
We really want to make sure that you all have a really exciting and visceral experience, so please do keep posting your feedback in in the Private Forums to help build the foundations of Nosgoth. We will be enabling more people with access to the Alpha trials over the coming weeks, so do keep an eye out for an invitation from us in your e-mail.
Looking forward to another round of play-testing this Thursday at 5pm GMT for some more bloodshed.
Official Square Enix Blog Article
Nosgoth closed beta launching today
Posted by MonkeyThumbz on the Official Square Enix Blog on 27 Feb 2016:
Hey everyone, it’s a very exciting time for us here on Team Nosgoth. We’re thrilled to let you know that today will see the launch of our Closed Beta phase at 8am PST / 10am CST / 11am EST / 4pm GMT / 5pm CET.
Nosgoth, in case you’re unfamiliar, is a bold new team-based, player-versus-player online multiplayer game set in the dark fantasy world of the Legacy of Kain series, pitting a variety of brutal Human and Vampire factions in a fight for survival.
Developed by Psyonix in San Diego as a competitive free-to-play title in order to break down barriers between the game’s creators and its players, Nosgoth doesn’t include weapons, items or abilities that are inherently better (aka supremacy goods). All items in the Nosgoth in-game store are side-grades, not upgrades, to create a fair game experience based purely on skill.
Check out the game in action here:
So, what does moving from Closed Alpha to Closed Beta actually mean? Well, for the duration of Closed Alpha we’ve been focusing our efforts on making the game as stable as possible, improving our matchmaking system and ensuring our core gameplay mechanics are as fair and balanced as possible. In Closed Beta, we’ll be bringing in a load of new content and features to Nosgoth, as well as providing more players with access to the game.
First and foremost, though, we’re pleased to confirm that our Closed Alpha NDArestricting users from sharing screenshots or video captured anywhere inside the game will be lifted as soon as we enter Closed Beta – from then on, you’ll be able to screengrab and stream to your hearts’ content!
NEW IN-GAME CONTENT COMING SOON
Please note that while the following features won’t all be ready as soon as we launch Closed Beta, they will be made available at some point during that development phase.
NEW CHARACTERS: During Closed Beta, we will be adding two extra Vampire character classes and two extra Human ones as well, the first of which has been revealed on our official blog.
NEW MAPS: We’re currently hard at work on our next map for the game following the recent addition of Sommerdamm, and for the first time we’ll be taking you deep into Vampire held territory! We’re looking forward to making this map available in Closed Beta, along with details about future maps too.
NEW MODES: We’re very much looking forward to releasing Siege into the game and to seeing how you fare with our new mode. Of course, we have plenty more ideas we’re looking forward to working on and we’ll be telling you all about them further down the line.
NEW WEAPONS, ABILITIES & SKINS: In Closed Beta, we’ll be looking to expand not just how you play the game with powerful new weapons and/or abilities for our Vampire and Human classes, but also what you look like while playing. We’ve already teased you a little about our ‘evolved’ skins and we’ve plenty more character customisation options in the pipe as well.
LEVELLING SYSTEM: We’re working on a levelling system to reward you as you hone your in-game skills and become more adept in your progress. The rewards will comprise a range of content, some of which will be available initially and some which will be added over time. As you level up, players will be able to show off their skill level to the rest of the community; earn rare items, perks or gold; unlock new character classes and prestigious skins… and some seriously cool stuff we’re not quite ready to talk about just yet.
COMMUNITY TOOLS: We know only too well that the community that slays together stays together, so we’re adding in more ways for you to enjoy the action, even inbetween playing a match. These features include party matchmaking, a spectator mode, livestreaming integration and tools to allow you to report bad conduct such as cheating, quitting games early and abusive behaviour.
CONTROLLER SUPPORT: We will be adding gamepad support to Nosgoth later in 2014.
ACHIEVEMENTS: We have every intention of adding Steam Achievements to Nosgoth, however right now these are quite far down the line. That said, we’re always interested in hearing your ideas so feel free to share suggestions in our forums.
Keep on an eye on Nosgoth's blog for further details about the game's Closed Beta phase over the coming weeks and months and we looking forward to having you in-game!
Official Nosgoth Blog Article
Closed Beta Launch Date Announcement
The Closed Beta announcement blog article taken from the Official Nosgoth blog:
PUBLISHED ON THE NOSGOTH BLOG ON: 2014-02-25
AUTHOR: George Kelion, Square Enix
Right now, our servers are offline as we transition from Closed Alpha to Closed Beta. However, we’re thrilled to announce that we will be launching our Closed Beta this Thursday, 27th February 2014.
To celebrate, we have a video message straight from Psyonix courtesy of Design Director Corey Davis, which features your first sneak peak at the evolved skins for the Vampire Clans we’ve been developing in conjunction with Soul Reaver’s Art Lead, Daniel Cabuco.
Daniel was kind enough to share these words about working with us on the evolved skins:
"It's with great pleasure that I announce my involvement with Psyonix in creating these classic Soul Reaver clan skins. They heard the fans and sought me out to ensure an authentic tie to the original series."
We look forward to sharing finished concept art and full details about the evolved skins next week, as well as the final 3D models further on down the line.
Rest assured, we know only too well that a lot of you still need your Nosgoth fix between now and Thursday, so we will be streaming a live gameplay session straight from Psyonix’s Studios in San Diego on our Twitch channel tomorrow.
Be sure to tune in at 2pm PST / 4pm CST / 5pm EST / 10pm GMT / 11pm CET on Wednesday 26th February to catch Nosgoth’s very own dev team in action.
Keep on an eye on this blog for further details about Nosgoth's Closed Beta phase to follow later on this week.
All that remains to be said is that we look forward to seeing you all in-game for the launch of Closed Beta on Thursday!
Official Nosgoth Blog Article
Nosgoth Open Beta Begins Today
The below article was posted on the Nosgoth blog detailing the start of the game entering Open Beta:
PUBLISHED ON THE NOSGOTH BLOG ON: 2015-01-21
AUTHOR: Cat Karskens, Square Enix
UPDATE: The Nosgoth Open Beta has now started!
Nosgoth’s Open Beta officially starts today. This marks a huge milestone for Nosgoth as the game will be available for all users to play, for free, on Steam! The Open Beta starts at 10am PST / 1pm EST / 6pm GMT / 7pm CET, so there are only a few more hours to go!
On the newly updated site, you’ll now see a new PLAY NOW button, allowing you to quickly register and link your Steam account. When logged into your Steam account, you’ll be able to download Nosgoth and start playing. It’s that easy. For this first week’s celebration, everyone that plays will receive double XP on all matches played, giving you even more reason to jump right into the action. This double XP will end at midnight (PST) on January 28th (3am EST / 8am GMT / 9am GMT – January 29th).
You'll find a few new game packs that have launched today on the website and in the game, too. They're a great way to unlock extra in-game content in one go, and support Nosgoth's development in the process. We'll run through those in more detail in another blog soon.
With our Open Beta launch we can now finally share an extra special trailer we've been working on, focusing on real gameplay, real Nosgoth fans, and using our in-game camera tool (NosCam). To create this top secret trailer, we drafted in some community members to join us for some play sessions. A big thank you goes out to them all again. We’re so proud of our dedicated and passionate community, we think this trailer is a great way to shine a spotlight on you guys!
Don’t forget, we will be streaming a live session on our Twitch channel from Psyonix’s studios in San Diego, California, on Friday - 23rd of January 2015. We’ll be talking about the journey so far, taking questions from the chat, showing off our upcoming Vampire class (the Summoner), revealing the next Human class that is currently in development, and more! Full details are in the blog, tune in at 11.30am PST / 2.30pm EST / 7.30 pm GMT / 8.30pm CET on Friday 23rd of January 2015.
All that remains now is to extend a huge thank you. The team at Psyonix have put together an Open Letter addressed to our community, because we wouldn’t be here without you, and we’re so excited to share this journey with you all.
Now, I think it’s about high time we all jump into a Nosgoth match, don’t you? See you in-game!
Vae victis!
Official Nosgoth Blog Article
Open Beta: A Psyonix Letter to the Community
Below is a letter from the staff at Psyonix which was posted on the Nosgoth blog during the time the game transitioned from Closed Beta to Open Beta:
PUBLISHED ON THE NOSGOTH BLOG ON: 2015-01-20
AUTHOR: Jeremy Dunham, Psyonix
To: Our Community,
Thank you.
Thank you very much for your support, your patience, and your unwavering dedication to Nosgoth over these past several months. Thank you for your understanding when we ran into issues, and thank you for sticking with us as we figured them out (even when it took longer than predicted).
It's because of you -- the Legacy of Kain faithful and new players alike -- that we were able to understand and build a game that's worthy of your expectations and your time. It's because of you that we've become better game makers; and it's because of you that we are inspired to keep pushing ourselves to make Nosgoth even better. We sincerely hope that tomorrow's move into Open Beta is just another, early step towards what we think is going to be a long, close-knit partnership that spans the bloody fields of Nosgoth and back again for many years to come.
Now that we're successfully opening the Nosgoth beta up to the masses, our next steps are to bring you more content, more classes, more game modes, and more fun as we continue forward. The powerful Summoner class will join the Vampire Clans in just a few weeks, while the brand new Human class will bring power and protection to Nosgoth just a few weeks after that. We have plenty more in the works as well -- like our new map, The Crucible, which explores the culture (and destruction) of the imposing Tyrants of Turelim to name just one -- and we plan on showing and talking about all of the things mentioned here in our upcoming Twitch dev stream later this week (January 23, 11:30am Pacific/ 7:30pm GMT).
The behind-the-scenes look at Nosgoth on our stream is just the beginning -- we'll also be updating the blog with a weekly roadmap of what we have planned in the near and far future on a regular basis. Our transparency will be wider and more frequent from this point forward, because your resolute support of our game deserves nothing less.
We should have plenty more to talk about as our journey continues in 2015 and beyond. But for now, we can't wait for you to join us on this, Week One in the new War for Nosgoth. We couldn't (and can't) do it without you -- and we wouldn't have it any other way.
With our sincerest gratitude, VAE VICTIS!
-- The Psyonix Development Tean
Official Nosgoth Blog Article/Forum Post
A Farewell To Arms - Nosgoth’s Final Days Are Upon Us
The below text was taken from the official Nosgoth Square Enix forum and the Nosgoth Blog in relation to the cancellation of the game. The official announcement was published at 1413 hours on 8 Apr 2016.
PUBLISHED ON THE NOSGOTH BLOG ON: 2016-04-08
AUTHOR: Oghamsmith
Denizens of Nosgoth,
It has been more than two and a half years since we partnered with the wonderfully mad men and women at Psyonix to embark upon a rather ambitious adventure. Our goal was to bring the world of Nosgoth to life in a new and challenging manner; a manner which allowed players to wage asymmetric warfare against each other as both human and vampire-kind.
A massive amount of work has gone into making Nosgoth a reality, and continually bringing new developments to the game. Our own teams, as well as the great guys at Psyonix, have dedicated a huge portion of themselves to making Nosgoth bigger and better over the years. Not only that, but dedicated community members provided a great deal of feedback that has been tremendously beneficial to the game. We are eternally grateful. Thank you one and all.
The above only makes today’s announcement that much more difficult.
It is with a heavy heart and an immense sense of sadness that we must announce the end of Nosgoth’s development. Servers will continue to run until 31st May 2016, during which time you will be able to play the game as normal. After that date, Nosgoth will be taken offline for the last time.
This was not an easy decision to come to. It has been a pleasure to build this game with your help, but ultimately its audience hasn’t grown enough to sustain ongoing operations.
On behalf of the entire Nosgoth team we want to thank you all for your feedback, support and dedication to the game throughout Nosgoth’s life.
Should you have any additional questions, please read this FAQ:
Can I still play the game?
Yes, new and existing players will be able to continue to play Nosgoth until 31st May 2016. Players will no longer be able to make real world purchases in the game.
Am I entitled to a refund?
All purchases made since 1st March 2016 will be automatically refunded.
Where and when can I claim a refund?
You won't be required to claim a refund as all eligible refunds will be automatically processed in the next 14 days. Email notifications will be sent out when the refund has been proceed. For all other inquiries, you can contact Square Enix customer support at support.nosgoth.com or Steam customer support support.steampowered.com.
How long will it take to process the refund?
Refunds for in game purchases or purchases through the web store will be processed as soon as possible and, in any case, within 14 days.
Refunds for purchases of the Definitive Pack on the Steam Store will be processed from week commencing 18th April 2016.
Where will I receive my refund?
Any in-game purchases made through Steam Wallet will have credits refunded to their Steam Wallet. For purchases of the Definitive pack on Steam Store please see the Steam Refunds Payment Methods section for details on how these refunds will be applied (http://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds_methods). Any purchases made through the Nosgoth Website or in-game through the native client will be refunded to your method of payment used to make the original purchase. Please contact Square Enix Customer Support at support.nosgoth.com for further information.
Will there be any more updates for Nosgoth?
No further updates are planned for Nosgoth.
Are there going to be more Leagues seasons?
There will be no more Leagues seasons.
What does this mean for Nosgoth Cups run by ESL?
The Nosgoth Open Beta Cup Series will continue to run in April after which they will cease. For details of the upcoming cups visit http://play.eslgaming.com/nosgoth/global
What happens to the Runestones and Gold in my account?
You will be able to carry on using Runestones and Gold until the game is taken offline. Runestones are no longer available for purchase but you can still earn Gold by completing public matches.
Will the automatic refund remove game content purchased since 1st March?
No, no game content will be removed.
What will happen to the forum on www.Nosgoth.com?
The Nosgoth forum will remain online until 14th June 2016, after which it will be taken offline.
What does this mean for the Legacy of Kain franchise?
Any future Legacy of Kain project will be considered independently of Nosgoth and on the merits of the propsals alone.
Official Nosgoth Forum Post
Nosgoth Game & Web Presence closure schedule
The below information was posted on the Official Nosgoth forum by Oghamsmith on 24 May 2016 in relation to the close down of Nosgoth:
Hello everyone,
With the 31st of May drawing ever closer, we want to let you know what to expect as Nosgoth goes offline for the final time.
May 31st – Nosgoth’s Steam page will be taken offline. The Community Hub and Steam Forum will remain online until the 20th of June.
May 31st – Nosgoth will go into maintenance for the final time at 11:59 PM PDT. It will no longer be possible to log into Nosgoth after this point.
June 1st – The Nosgoth website will go offline. www.Nosgoth.com will redirect to the Nosgoth forum.
June 1st – Nosgoth game servers are taken offline. (Those who log in prior to maintenance on the 31st may be able to continue to play until this point).
June 14th – The Nosgoth forum will be archived under the Legacy of Kain category here. It will be possible to view old Nosgoth threads and posts, but it will not be possible to make new posts. We will create a new General Discussion section for Nosgoth within the LoK category with which any future discussion of the game can take place.
June 20th – Nosgoth’s Steam Community Hub and Steam Forum will be taken offline.
So there we have it. Now you should have a much better idea of when Nosgoth’s game servers and sites are going offline. Those of you who are gathering images and information from our various web pages also now have a better idea of the time that you have to work with.
If you have any questions about the timing, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Official Nosgoth Forum Post
Remembering the good times as the gates to Nosgoth close
The below message was posted on the Official Forum by Oghamsmith on 1 Jun 2016:
This morning Nosgoth bid farewell to our world as it transitioned into maintenance mode for the final time. While deeply saddening, it was great to see so many community members banding together to create matches, create asset archives, and generally try to make the most of Nosgoth’s final few hours.
On behalf of the Nosgoth team, I would like to thank everyone who took up arms against vampire-kind or thoroughly enjoyed sinking their fangs into digital flesh. Your passion for the game and franchise went a long way toward keeping us energised and on our toes.
Having spoken to quite a few of you, we know that many friendships were formed around the game; and many an epic moment resulted in tumultuous laughing until the point of nearly passing out. These are the memories and experiences that we hope you hold on to, and take with you from your time with Nosgoth. Those are certainly the memories that will remain with us the longest.
With the game now shutting down, the rest of Nosgoth’s services such as the website, Steam page, Steam community hub etc, will also be shutting down. You can find the timeline for those actions here.
Once again, thank you all. It has been an absolute pleasure.
Oghamsmith,
On behalf of the Nosgoth team
Nosgoth - The In-Game Closure
At the end of Nosgoth when the servers where finally shut down players were greeted with the saddest message in Nosgoth history. Nosgoth still remains on Steam and some players still have the independent launcher installed and if they attempt to launch the game they are also greeted with the message...
