Daybreak Game Company, the development studio behind the beta production Landmark, has clarified that their focus has now shifted to completion of the long-awaited EverQuest Next.
In a “producer’s letter” posted on Landmark’s official site, senior producer Terry Michaels provided fans with an update on the MMO’s current status within the company.
“As the team has wrapped up the various pieces related to the wipe and the bugs associated with it, we have been shifting our focus and resources over to work on the highest priority tasks and systems that will be used in EverQuest Next,” Michaels said. “While we do this, we’re working in areas with high amounts of creative risk. This means that while we know what we want to do, we know it will take an unknown amount of iteration, tweaking and sometimes drastic direction changes to get these in game and working the way they need to. Because of this, we simply cannot commit to any dates, because until we get much closer, even our best estimates are educated (but still fairly wild) guesses.”
The “wipe” Michaels mentions refers to a bug that existed in Landmark which deleted players’ characters and building claims. After fixing this bug in Landmark, it seems the team is now ready to fully commit to the development of EverQuest Next.
Michaels noted that Landmark would still receive updates and additional support, despite the shift in focus. He also made it clear that no release date has been settled upon, and that it might be awhile before fans can explore the wilds of EverQuest Next.