Go Gently Into That Good Night

By Sanya Weathers

If you’ve had to close down a game, a social media product, or anything else, you know there are some basic steps to take. Close down the servers, write press releases free of any finger pointing or drama, look for a new job.

You also need a plan for closing down your community. “Turning off the forum and replacing it with a link to the press release” is a terrible plan. The main reason this is terrible? It’s disrespectful to the time and effort your users have given you. Second, I assume that your new job is in a related field. Early adopters of your next project are not averse to looking you up to see what you’ve already done. If you were respectful and thoughtful in the first job, you’ll have won over an audience segment in your second without doing any extra work.

I’ve said this before: Good community work is often about busting your rump in the present so you can relax in the future. And by relax, I mean “have plenty of time to focus on riding the catastrophe curve instead of always playing catch up.” But I digress.

Here are some tips on bringing down the curtain:

–    The announcement to the fans should be personal. Don’t just reprint the sorrowful press release. Your forum users are your hardcore consumers. You will especially miss them above all others, so why not say so? (And if you thought they were a useless pain in the rear, perhaps consider altering that mindset if you’d rather your next project not tank. Pain in the rear, sometimes. We all are. Useless? Is a coal mine canary useless? I think not.)

–    Your fan media people should get extra attention. These people were the engine that drove what success you had, and furthermore, their passion was entirely wrapped up in your product. Believe it or not, their sense of loss equals your own. Reach out to them. Remember that if they like you and the kinds of games you want to make, they’ll be more likely to make fansites for your next game. Relationships endure past the life of any one game.

–    Explain what happened. If you don’t, something will spring up to fill the vacuum. That something will either be imaginations gone wild, or a single employee’s point of view. Either way, the internet abhors a vacuum, so you might as well grab the chance to put your own take out there.

–    Time to mourn is crucial. Leave the forum open for a few days past the official shut down – people who played your product need time to find each other and exchange contact information.

–    Manage the forums. Lock all the sections but your main chat area. Create threads for specific topics – What are you playing next?, Anger is a stage of grief, Questions, Post Goodbyes here, etc. Channel their feelings into specific grooves lest the entire forum turn into a cesspool.

–    Post money information on the top of every webpage. Will there be refunds for unused time/points/whatever? Did you sell those lifetime subscriptions, for which you will not give refunds because it was for the life of the game? Consider letting the game run for free for an extra month with no CS.

–    Empty out the swag closet. Auction off a t-shirt and donate the proceeds to a charity – I like Child’s Play, myself. Have a last screenshot contest. Create a Best Memory thread and send prizes. Hey, what’s more fun, a funeral or a wake?