Deadeye Games Closes Its Doors Taking Rulers Of The Sea Along With It

Deadeye Games is a Dutch indie studio working on a historical sandbox MMORPG called Rulers of the Sea. The ambitious project first popped up on our radar back in 2019, promising a complex 1750s seafaring experience with 156 playable nations, each with their own player-run navies and governments. Players would also have to complete an in-game university course to level up rather than simply grinding out quests.

Over the past few years, the studio has been providing regular progress reports on the game’s development which included a partnership with an MMO development company called Argentics and the launching of an investor campaign back in March.

Unfortunately, probably won’t ever be seeing the light of day as Deadeye announces its closure and the end of the game’s development with it.

“We spent many years of work on the project, unpaid, and also funded half of the cost ourselves,” said the devs. “For the other half there were supporters that purchased pre-subscription packs and gamer shares. But most important, we received lots of support in contributions and interest from the community. So disappointment will be wide-spread. Know that we share this disappointment with you.”

“It has been a years-long effort to try and get enough funding for this ambitious project,” they added. “We have always said we regarded it a fifty/fifty chance of success. For us it is now time to stop the effort and face up to the fact that we will not be the people to achieve it.”

What little money the studio has left will be used to reimburse those who purchased shares in the game and pay for the costs of shutting down operations and dissolving the company. The studio says that it will also be selling the rights to the game, along with its social media accounts, forums, and assets, “for a symbolic amount.”

Deadeye offers more details on why the project crashed and burned in this final dev blog.