Midgard, the MMORPG announced last year by Funcom, was to be set in the lands of the Vikings and of the Norse Mythology Gods of Valhalla. The basic idea was much like other fantasy MMORPG's, but there were enough unique concepts in Midgard that many gamers were anxiously awaiting its release. Their wait has just gotten significantly longer, and may indeed be in vain. The following letter from the Creative Director of Midgard was published today on the Midgard website...

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A Letter from the Creative Director to the Midgard Community It may sound brutal, but there are several reasons why we're not going to proceed with Midgard at this point. If you look at the massively multiplayer online worlds in production, it's obvious that there are lots of great medieval fantasy games in the pipeline, and many of them will feature game-play similar to what we’ve designed for Midgard. Midgard was a unique concept, and it was never going to be "just another fantasy world". After all, it was based around the exciting history and mythology of the Viking Sagas. But, since much of modern fantasy springs from Northern European mythology, Midgard would still be pitched against a number of broadly similar settings. Basically, what that means, is that Midgard was the right game at the wrong time. There’s still some hope, however distant and faint. Midgard remains a strong and unique concept, and we'd love to get back to it... some sunny day. If we ever do decide to restart the project, however, Midgard won't see the light of day until 2006 - at the earliest. We're going to keep the website and the forums up-and-running, but don't expect to hear anything more about the game... at least not for another few years. So there you have it, guys. Thanks for your support and for sticking with us this long, and keep in mind that, although I'm as heartbroken as you are, I also believe that we've made the right decision. Our options are wide open now, and Funcom will make another massively multiplayer online game. In the meantime, go play Anarchy Online! It may not have any Vikings or longboats or fjords, but it's a great game getting better by the day! Farewell, Ragnar Ex-Game Director of Midgard (RIP)