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.
Yes well said! There is obvious uproar in the community because whether meta or RAD realizes it, people have put more than just their time into this game. Community has grown. Relationships and friendships. People helping others. This game is a big part of a lot of peoples lives.
Please reconsider the decision to shutdown Echo. I have formed deep friendships and had amazing experiences plying this game near daily over the last two years. My Quest 2 almost became a paperweight before I found Echo and then I become a super evangelist and convinced multiple friends to buy headsets.
Echo VR and its community has changed and touched the lives of thousands of people, including myself. The game itself is so engaging and fun, but the relationships and teamwork you build in it are what sets the Echo apart from so many. It’s paving a new way to game and to cut it short of the immense potential it has just doesn’t make any sense.
Echo VR is one of the most top rated multiplayer games that Meta has to offer. While it is free to play, I’ve attended multiple LANs and purchased more headsets and controllers than I’d care to admit for just this one game. I have and would gladly throw money at Echo, it’s worth it.
I personally love echo arena, not just as a game but as an escape, a place where you can be social, or whatever else you want it to be. But now this is being challenged by Meta and RAD's decision to effectively stop all play of the game as of August 1st this year. As a comp player I naturally put lots of hours into this game and have made some of my strongest connections with other people through this game, it means a lot to me and I, along with many others would be willing to pay for the game through monetization schemes such as pay to play, even the battle pass which was one of echo's only sources of income was implemented poorly, only needing you to purchase one season and upon completion granting you enough credits to buy the next pass, thus reducing people's need to buy new echo points. With features like this revamped I feel this game has so much unexplored potential for growth and business and that with the correct people/decision making at the helm this game could be a longstanding "big"/pioneering game of the early VR industry. I also would like to note the huge loss of business that would follow this game's closure, I myself, and I know I'm not alone, mostly or only play VR for echo arena, as I said previously I play this game a lot, like 1-2hours per day at least, whereas I've not played any other VR game be it on steam VR or the oculus store for more than a few hours since well before Christmas. I was planning to purchase the Oculus Quest 3 (or whatever new headset has been teased to come out next) whenever it is released to replace my ageing CV1 and Rift S that are in desperate need of replacement, without echo I simply wouldn't be able to justify the cost of purchasing a new headset, there are simply no other games that rival echo or captivate my interest in the same way. There is also a long-standing, established community of players and organizations that are built around echo, or echo is a major part of them. Spark and VRML being just two of many examples. VRML's echo league is a league of 6300+ players that is growing every year, they are even having their very first LAN event later this year, surely all this growth and potential can't just be discounted? I honestly just can't find a reason to purchase new headsets if Echo is removed and I along with many others wholeheartedly reject the decision to permanently shut down echo vr.
Please don't let this absolutely upstanding game fade away, it is one of Few eSports game that is successful let alone a as VR title. If this won't change Meta's atleast make combat available for free to all PCVR players. I love this game dearly and don't wanna say goodbye to it.
tickleBritches on "Fight For Echo" discord also made a really beautiful point:
" I don't think Echo gets enough credit for, is how echo provides a platform where people of all genders, ages, backgrounds, etc. can play a sport together on a level playing field...like, that's really rare."
This is definitely my favorite game to play on Oculus! I'd would be willing to purchase the game, as I'm sure many other would as well! If they take Echo VR game away I'm contemplating returning the Oculus Quest 2 to Costco since its still under warranty. I can just go back to pure PC gaming...
