It has been officially announced that online servers for Demon’s Souls will die off come February 28th, 2018, the month of the game’s (and Souls/Bloodborne series’s) 9th birthday.
Demon’s Souls will, of course, still be playable offline, but without the aid of (or invasion from) Phantoms, and helpful (or mischievous) messages left by other players. Sadly, this will mean the ingenious Old Monk boss fight will be left gimped.
The 2009 PS3-exclusive title, developed by now-living-legends From Software, and directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, was the starting point for the Souls/Bloodborne series, serving as the genre-defining breakthrough that I personally believe was needed back then, even if it barely made it to a Western release. In fact, either directly or by proxy, I think it changed video games forever onward.
It’s downright amazing that the servers have been online all this time, as the game has remained a niche title when compared to its more famous successors. Perhaps now is the best time to experience all the elements of the game, as news of the the coming server death might bring players, new and old, out of the woodwork.
TFW your primary gimmick is an online event in an offline game
Maybe that’ll offset the hackers that roamed the empty landscape when I replayed the game about a year ago.
Additionally, there has been a lot of interest and work done into attempts at emulating Demon’s Souls on PC, so maybe the time truly is ripe for a little revival.
