It’s not often you hear of Shadowbane since the acquisition by Ubisoft, but their latest Dev article makes an unheard of announcement for the MMO market.

The complete reset of all characters and server data, bringing the entire game to a blank slate with everyone starting over again.

The Shadowbane Team decided that it would be best for the longevity of the game to reset all server and character data and start from scratch. By doing so, the game benefits in a variety of ways. First, we feel the community will be better served by being more consolidated and less fragmented. Second, resetting the game removes items that have accumulated over the years that have caused imbalances to the game. In addition, numerous updates and enhancements have been made to the Shadowbane service to improve the performance. Some of the changes were not as effective due to preexisting data and resetting the service will allow the servers to work under optimal conditions. Finally, this update also gives us a chance to address certain game issues.

Their reasoning does sound pretty solid, and with the game having gone free it’s not like they’re beholden to those players still in the game.

Whether those players come out with the pitchforks against the Dev’s is anybody’s call, the game being so long in the tooth and wipe could actually be a good thing for many players.

As an aside if anyone is in the middle of a MMO gaming slump looking for a new game, Shadowbane is completely FREE with no strings attached. Shadowbane has always had a dated look, clunky controls, but also offered some of the most unique and unprecedented PvP and Guild vs. Guild features of any game to date.