Not long after it finally launched, the people responsible for fan project Pokemon Uranium are ceasing all support and development for the project.
Uranium–an impressive built-from-scratch game with original Pokemon, a new region, a new Uranium type, online support, and more–launched in August after more than nine years in development. Takedown notices forced download links for the game to be removed from its website shortly thereafter, but new patches were still released and support continued for its online features. Now, all of that is coming to an end.
“Unfortunately, as Pokemon Uranium is a fan game, there is a limit to how far projects such as these can go,” reads a message posted on Twitter today. “We are therefore ceasing development on this project. As such, we, the creators of the game, will no longer be offering game downloads, updates, online services, or support for Pokemon Uranium.
“We’re immensely flattered and overwhelmed by the response that this game has received–but now is the time for us to move on to future efforts. We hope that all of you will continue to be passionate about Pokemon, and join us in celebrating the 20th anniversary with joy and love.”
There’s no indication that this move comes as a result of Nintendo, The Pokemon Company, or the companies’ lawyers. When the developers removed the download links from their website, they said they hadn’t been contacted directly. Instead, lawyers representing Nintendo of America had issued takedown notices to file-hosting sites.
Uranium’s website is currently down, and no further details have been shared. Its Twitter account, which had been extremely active throughout August, had not sent out any messages prior to this one since September 1, when it promised bug fixes in a new patch.
We’ll report back with any further details the Uranium team shares, if any.