Loadout is the next older game from a small studio to fall victim to the encroaching GDPR. In a farewell post on the game’s Steam page, Edge of Reality CEO Rob Cohen announced that the game would be shut down on May 24th, the same day the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation goes into effect. The full post follows with plenty of details:
I’m very sad to announce that Loadout’s end of service will be on 5/24/2018. Thanks to everyone who made Loadout possible!
The Loadout Community
I hear from fans who passionately love Loadout every day. It started when we began closed beta in back in 2012, and it never stopped. Over 9 million people have played Loadout since then! There was never any question that Loadout was special. I’m deeply grateful to all you players who contributed your time, energy, creativity, and feedback. You’re the main reason I wish Loadout could live on. Maybe someday Loadout will return, but for now, it will go offline on 5/24/2018.The Loadout Team
An incredible amount of talent, passion, and hard work went into Loadout. I’m still awed by your work! This includes everyone at Edge of Reality. Practically everyone at EOR contributed to Loadout in one way or another, whether directly or indirectly, and everyone deserves to share in the credit for what we accomplished. I still cheer for your many continued successes in work and life after EOR.Our Friends at Playfab, Steam, and PlayStation
Thanks for all your help!Why now?
Loadout just received a few death blows. Any one of these could have been fatal, but with all of them hitting at once, it’s clear that we have no choice but to shut it down.GDPR
The well-intended GDPR legislation creates major burdens for small companies to do business in the EU, starting on 5/25. We don’t have the resources to update Loadout to GDPR compliance, and a big portion of Loadout players come from the EU. Sadly, while big companies have the resources to comply with the GDPR, that’s not always the case for small businesses. We still protect your privacy, and we wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise. We just don’t have the resources to overhaul Loadout and implement new features to meet a large list of new requirements.Cloud end of service
Loadout depends on an old product from our main cloud provider, and that product is also ending service. I can’t speak for them, but GDPR may also be a factor. Porting Loadout to use their new product is a major undertaking, and we don’t have the resources to do that.Rising costs
Other cloud products recently getting discontinued are resulting in much higher server costs, while Loadout’s revenues stay flat. This just put Loadout deep into the red, losing an alarming amount of money per month.So, enjoy your last moments of Loadout, and record them for posterity!
Until next time,
Rob
The free-to-play game has already been removed from both Steam and PlayStation 4 but those who had previously downloaded it can continue playing until the end. The date has been added to the increasingly crowded Watch List calendar and a page for the game will be up on the site soon.