Digimon Links Shuts Down

[MarcFBR]

We all knew it was coming.



As expected and previously announced, Digimon Links has officially shut down.

The game just shows a thank you message if you enter the game at this point.


Clicking for Important Information gets you a touch more info, but nothing we didn't know.





The game had 'actually' shut down earlier in the day, but based on where you were (or language settings perhaps?) you saw different things...



I saw a general maintenance message. The time it says maintenance would end equates to midnight Pacific, when the game switched to the thank you message.

A number of players appeared to see the maintenance screen, but with no actual text displayed in the box.



The games epilogue, uploaded by XDragon2688 can be found here. The later second chapter of the epilogue can be found here.


The game launched in the west on October 4th, 2017.


Links closing is to make way for Digimon ReArise, which has been teased for awhile, with no formal date announced. The Japanese version of Links closed at the same time as the western version (ReArise having just finished it's 1st season of content there.) But with Links officially gone, it feels like it kind of has to be soon for the western versions launch... right?

 

[XDragon]

Glad to help share the story. It's been a fun two years with Links.

 

[Athos]

It is officially shutdown but since the game was made with unity, it was easy to collect and log all client-server activity.
So it is possible to create an unofficial server.

Also, it seems they had 2 clients: one for the public (which we used) and one for the administration (I found some empty admin related stuff in their binaries).

 

[Lucemon X]

What happens to the $700 I spent in that game??? all for just two years of play??

 

[Theigno]

Sad to see it go. I spent so much time with this game. Most of the time I had great fun. At other times there were interesting challenges to overcome that still left me feeling gratified in the end.
And finally there were the unfortunate times when I wasn't extracting assets and tried to actually play the thing and those times kind of sucked.
But overall that's not too bad I guess.

What happens to the $700 I spent in that game??? all for just two years of play??

I'm sure everyone working for Bandai Namco is greatly honored by your selfless sacrifice and will reward you by providing you with ample opportunities to give them even more of your money in ReArise during the next two years or so.

 

[Mugenlazlo]

May this game rest in peace.

 

[Metaridley]

It is officially shutdown but since the game was made with unity, it was easy to collect and log all client-server activity.
So it is possible to create an unofficial server.

Also, it seems they had 2 clients: one for the public (which we used) and one for the administration (I found some empty admin related stuff in their binaries).

i wish someone would bring back digimon crusader/heroes too... i liked the game really much

 

[Muur]

What happens to the $700 I spent in that game??? all for just two years of play??

I mean... were you expecting this game to stay alive forever? All mobile games shut down eventually. Two years is pretty standard.

 

[Athos]

The cdn containing both the Android/iOS unity assets (backgrounds, models, musics, sound effects, etc) is still accessible, so you can grab them if you want.

I've made a .NET app to download them all, in case anyone is interested here's the link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cmCyRlW9UaeXtDeML-bufc1fX2L-6KBf/view
Includes binaries and source code.

 

[Loke]

I found the gameplay to be a little shallow, and never really got into it. If there were a v-pet aspect to it, it might have been better, but I don't know. Is Rearise any better? I didn't realize Links was anymore than just battling easy enemies in repetitive arenas. I never felt there was any depth to the combat, like in the Pokemon Sun and Moon's Battle Tree for instance.

 

[DigitalJex]

So I guess every mobile Digimon game is going to be pulled each time they make a new one? That's a bad business model

 

[Muur]

So I guess every mobile Digimon game is going to be pulled each time they make a new one? That's a bad business model

Is it? splitting your player base and running two games is pretty pricey and lowers the amount players/money made on both games.

 

[frankiemon827]

at the one hand, it's not that bad the Digimon Linkz lasted that long (2-3) years with constanting adding new digimons into the game...but on the other hand I can't really imagine the money the game has squeezed out of its players...

 

[DL22003]

It is officially shutdown but since the game was made with unity, it was easy to collect and log all client-server activity.
So it is possible to create an unofficial server.

Also, it seems they had 2 clients: one for the public (which we used) and one for the administration (I found some empty admin related stuff in their binaries).

An unnofficial server would be nice for those who'd like to keep playing this game.

 

[Unknown Neo]

There might be one that pops up. They did it for Toontown and that Cartoon Network MMO... Fusion Fall I think.

 

[DigitalJex]

Who wants to sink money into a game from a company that has a record of pulling from the app store every couple of years? Progress, effort, payments - all gone.

 

[Sparrow Hawk]

Yeah! It should be 5 or 10 years to terminate it! Too bad app game addictions are too strong to resist... :/

 

[Paruseruru mafubu]

My wife wasn't happy when it shutdown. She's been playing it for a long time and just got her favorite Digimon (Dukemon X & Crimson Mode) when it was terminated. I really don't get into these app games for this exact reason. Some of them are really good and you can waste a lot of time and money and then it's all gone.

 

[Unknown Neo]

That one flaw with mobile and MMOs. They go down. But this can also effect console games too. This wraps into lootbox problems. I have a good video link for that though.