Echo VR shutdown

[128ajb]

To whoever it may concern, 

I am deeply saddened by the news that EchoVR will be closing its doors on 1st August 2023. The Echo community is huge, established and it will be a great loss to many of us should the game disappear entirely. This is why I write to you today, to show that there is still demand for the game and I hope that you will reconsider your approach to close down the servers for Echo VR on the due date. 

We do not need much, or for the game to continue to be developed, simply the request to keep the servers open so that we can continue to enjoy and play this game with the friends we have made and the teams we have formed over the years since the game was released. 

If it is a matter of cost, I am willing to offer, along with many others, monetary contribution to upkeep the servers. A small subscription fee each month should be enough to keep your servers open and I hope you will read and consider this proposal.

The community is huge, still growing, and it would be a shame to cut its potential short. There are community members holding tournaments, finding funding for LAN events and all this hard work will be lost the moment you shut down the servers for this game. Some of us play it daily, for exercise, with friends and for mental health and all this will also be lost. 

There is no good reason to cut the life of the game short just because you are putting resources into another game. I am not asking much of you, simply to honour the community that has dedicated so much of their time, energy and sweat into what I believe to be one of the best e-sports in the VR world today. 

I hope this message finds the relevant people with power to overturn the decision in August.

I would like to stress the importance of Echo VR to our community and I sincerely hope that you / Meta, reconsiders the decision to shut down the servers on the 1st August 2023.

[Warp_Gate]

Meta, please save Echo VR!

[HamBanner]

All VR enthusiasts should have a chance to play Combat. To make it free would be a sign of good faith. The Combat community sincerely appreciates the consideration of this request. Especially Coda. 

[RockSolid70]

I am deeply saddened about the news to shut down the server for Echo VR all together. I can say honestly I’m not a video game person but Echo was different. It was beyond just a game, it created an opportunity to become athletes in VR. I love team competitive sports and that is everything you get from Echo, you work as a team. It challenges players old & young to communicate and support one another like no game I’ve ever played before. I ask that you find away to allow the game to continue with no new updates and even a fee if needed. 

[lennon_oculus]

completely agree if the game must die then ok (meta must be really serious with saving money on servers) but why remove combat now. there is absolutely no need. removing combat from the oculus store now instead of leaving it or making it free until august 1st just looks like a strategy so meta/rad get less backlash from new combat players that could have joined between now and august 1st.

[BlankGUI]

In no sport in my life have I ever felt at home as I do in Echo. 

It is almost the sole reason I keep turning on my Quest 2.

Please save Echo. It deserves better. 

[daveola]

The proposed ending of Echo Arena has devastated many lives.  This is a vibrant community with multiple competitive leagues, professional leagues, and so many dedicated and skilled players who have devoted so much of their life to this sport over the last few years.

I understand that it's difficult to make any sort of demands for a company to maintain a near-free product, but I would like for Meta/Oculus/RAD to consider a few possibilities:

1) Maintain Echo Arena free for the love of the community.  This is good advertising for the Lone Echo series and good advertising for the Oculus headset - this being free was one of the flagship applications for the headset.  Furthermore, discontinuing Echo Arena and disrupting this many lives is damaging to the Meta/Oculus/RAD branding.

2) Make Echo Arena more profitable.  Many players (such as myself) would happily pay to continue to play Echo Arena

3) Consider potential kickstarter style funding.  Determine the dollar amount that would be required for Meta to keep Echo Arena alive for some N number of years, and setup a fundraiser that only takes the money if the amount is reached.

4) Hand over the reigns.  I understand that the Echo assets are not really available, but it would not be difficult to remove the assets from the code base and hand over and/or sell the code base to potential buyers who could recreate the game without having to write it from scratch, then a small enough code team with an art team would be able to release the game and keep the sport alive.

This isn't just some computer game that is being shut off.  This is a sport and a community.  You can see that by looking at the responses in the various Echo Arena forums on discord and around the web.  I've seen posts from community organizers with information about resources for self-harm/suicide because of the effect this is having, so please take it seriously.

[AstrosaurusVO]

Echo Combat is my favorite VR game. If this game didn't exist or wasn't a meta exclusive I would never have gotten a meta headset. Im in this game practically everyday, I love echo so much and the news that the servers are getting shut down is a slap in the face for us who have been here for so long and still actively play the game. Please consider saving our game meta, even if its a financial burden to keep the servers up, Im sure me and many other echo units would gladly pay a subscription fee just to keep our servers up and going. I would literally buy the servers from you and run it myself if I could just to get a few more matches of combat in after august. And speaking of combat, since no one is allowed to purchase it anymore, please consider making it free for the time being rather than just axing it for new players. If its free rather than not existing, you'll get more players in your headsets without losing anything. So please meta, I beg you, save combat, save echovr

[916VR]

Totally agree. Time for Meta to do the right thing. Can't believe we have to protest this decision. This is the Meta verse! Why kill it? 

[Cow-]

I have been playing Echo for close to three years now and news of the shutdown just doesn’t make sense to me and feels out of place. I feel as I can speak for many of the playerbase when I say that I would pay either a one time fee or a subscription in order to continue to play this game with my close friends. This game has lead to many friendships and the people I have met in this game I consider my closest friends. This game has gone so far as to make me more social in the real world as well! Not only did I meet one of my best friends in the game we also met up in real life which was a surreal experience for me. It’s just hard to believe that our common interest is going to be ripped away from us, especially when it’s the forefront of the Metaverse and VR sports as a whole. I’m hoping we can save Echo and it will have many many years to come.

#SaveEcho #SaveEchoArena #FightForEcho

[very_fast_picket]

Well said. There are enough fans both to make this project financially and community-spirit viable