You generally want to avoid being the game that everybody agrees “deserved better,” but that was Spellbreak in a nutshell. The multiplayer battle royale about wizards throwing down the gauntlet – a wide variety of them, in fact – conjured visions of Avatar: The Last Airbender when it was at its best, with players hurling boulders and whipping up tornadoes as they frantically flitted about the battlefield. Despite positive reviews, the game wasn’t able to maintain a large enough audience, and in 2022 developer Proletariat announced that it would be shutting down its servers and joining Blizzard. But unlike a great many other games that have faced similar fates, Spellbreak remains playable.
As pointed out by ever-reliable indie game guy Dominic Tarason, Spellbreak’s dev team posted a free version of the game that lets players host their own servers not long after announcing the shutdown.
“Like many of you, we were sad to see the development of Spellbreak come to a close,” wrote Spellbreak’s developers. “In order to help memorialize Spellbreak and allow players to continue to enjoy the Hollow Lands, we created a standalone version where players can host their own servers, play with their friends, and explore the game-space at their own pace.”
In the intervening period, Spellbreak’s community has created a Discord server with over 5,000 users called Elemental Fracture that hosts daily games, weekly events, and provides other resources. They’ve even put together their own launcher to make the process of getting the game up and running simpler. You can join the server here, if you’d like.
“Elemental Fracture emerged from this unique moment in Spellbreak's history,” wrote one of the server’s moderators in its “Who We Are” section. “Our mission is simple yet powerful: we want to bring our Spellbreak community together to resurrect the game we love. Whether you're a seasoned pro who has been part of Spellbreak's journey from the beginning or someone discovering this captivating game for the first time, we wholeheartedly welcome you to our community. Here, friendships are made and flourish, skills sharpen, and the passion for Spellbreak burns brighter than ever. Join us on this exciting adventure of reviving this wonderful game.”
This, if you ask me, is what should happen any time a company is forced to pull the plug on a server-based game: Let players preserve it to whatever degree they’re able. As is, 87 percent of games released before 2010 are unplayable, according to the Video Game History Foundation, and the proliferation of online multiplayer games in the years since means that number is likely to rise. There’s only one way to stem the tide, and we’re looking at it.
