"Devastated doesn’t even begin to cover it": Warhammer MMO got obliterated by NetEase shutdown before it could be announced, and devs can’t believe "no one will get to see the amazing work" now that it’s dead

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Cancelled Warhammer MMO Brings Jackalyptic Games Partnership with NetEase to an End

The developers behind a cancelled Warhammer MMO have responded to the project’s cancellation and the end of their partnership with publisher NetEase.

Last week, Jack Emmert, MMO veteran known for City of Heroes and Star Trek Online, confirmed on LinkedIn that his studio, Jackalyptic Games, is ending their collaboration with NetEase “after nearly three and a half years.” The studio had been working on the unannounced Warhammer MMO since 2022.

While Emmert did not explicitly say the studio was closing, senior UI engineer Joseph Sierejko followed up with a post stating, “My time at Jackalyptic and the studio as a whole is coming to an end.” Sound engineer Ben Dahl added, “myself and the majority of the studio are now looking for a new home.”

Sierejko reflected on his experience, saying: “The last 2 1/2 years have easily been the most informative of my entire career, and it’s in no small part because of the insane talent every one of my colleagues exhibited. My only real regret is that no one will get to see the amazing work everyone’s done.”

Dahl shared his pride in the project despite its cancellation: “Devastated doesn’t even begin to cover it. I am incredibly proud of what our two-person audio team was able to achieve.”

Industry peers have also praised Jackalyptic Games. Nick Barone, who previously worked on Amazon’s New World, described the team as “easily the most talented group I have ever worked with for such a small team.”

The cancelled MMO represents another high-profile project cut short in the competitive MMO space, highlighting the challenges small teams face when working with large publishers.

References

  1. Jack Emmert, LinkedIn, 2025.

  2. FRVR reporting on Jackalyptic Games’ announcement.

  3. Joseph Sierejko and Ben Dahl, LinkedIn posts, 2025.

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