Microsoft and Team Dakota have announced that they will discontinue the "Project Spark" make-your-own-game system on Aug. 12.
An official Microsoft blog stated on Friday, May 13, that many of the developers involved in "Project Spark" moved to other projects within Microsoft Studio last fall, when the project transitioned away from active development. This means that it is not feasible anymore to continue work involving with keeping the project running with bug fixes and updates.
PC Mag reports that Microsoft also explained that the game's online services will no longer be available. Those users who already own "Project Spark" will be unable to both download anyone else's content and upload their own content. The users of "Project Spark" will still be able to play offline what they have already downloaded. But once they delete content, they will not be able to reacquire the mini-games.
Since launch, "Project Spark's" developers team has already released thousands of assets, 46 content packs and 16 updates. It also produced hundreds of videos and live streams to educate and celebrate "Project Spark's" community.
In turn, "Project Spark's" passionate fans have supported it by uploading hundreds of thousands of creations. Outside the game, they created forums, tutorials, fan sites and apps, Microsoft notes.
Those who recently purchased "Project Spark" will receive a small gift from Microsoft, since in just a few months, they will not be able to do much with it. Microsoft will offer an automatic credit to those who bought the game after Oct. 5 of last year. The credit can be used on either the Microsoft or Xbox store.
According to Ars Technica, Microsoft marketing teams never effectively sold the power and possibilities of "Project Spark's" make-your-own-game system. Major demonstrations tended to revolve more around generic 3D platformers even if some short teaser videos hinted at the game enabling everything from airborne battles to kart racers.
Microsoft has been pitching the project as something that would scale between Xbox consoles, laptops and smartphones. The "Project Spark" product had some great potential but suffered from barriers to entry, including how its search engines that did not make discoverability easy.
