Game Closing Questions

LEGO Universe Closure Information

Hello LEGO Universe parents,

We have announced that LEGO Universe will be closing on January 31, 2012.

This was a very difficult decision and we are very sorry knowing this will sadden many of the kids playing and enjoying the game every day.

We would like to assure you as parents that we will continue to uphold the same high level of player safety standards during the final month of the game. This will include the same monitoring of chat, communication and user generated content as we have done up to this point.

In addition, we will be keeping the lines of communication open through our message boards to give the players a chance to ask questions, give their opinions and to say goodbye to their friend from the game.

Please read the FAQs for more information surrounding the closure, and thank you for being a LEGO Universe parent. We hope your children enjoyed having the adventures as much as we enjoyed creating them.

Sincerely,

The LEGO Universe Team







Game Closing Questions 
Should you have any questions you need answered the message board is a great way to share thoughts and interact with other fans and the LEGO universe team as well.

• What are the details regarding the closing of LEGO Universe?
• 
  • The game will be turned off on January 31, 2012 at midnight (EST).
  
  • All current subscribers (1, 6 or 12 month plans) who still have active subscriptions on December 31 will receive a refund for any remaining game time remaining after December 31 as well as free play from January 1, 2012 until January 31.
  o For example, if you purchased a 6-month subscription on September 1, 2011 (which would expire on February 29, 2012), you would be refunded $16.66 for the 2 months following December 31.
  
  • We will begin processing all refunds on February 1, 2012. All refunds will be made to the credit card used for the original subscription.
  
  • If your subscription expires before December 31 you will need to purchase an additional 1 month subscription by December 31 in order to get the free game play in January (again, any unused game time as of December 31 will be refunded.)
  
  • LEGO Universe game cards can only be used until December 1st 2011. Unused game cards after December 1st can be converted to LEGO Shop @Home gift cards for the same value.
  o Please note: Details on how to convert unused game cards will be posted on December 1.
  
  • You can continue to enjoy the free to play zone until January 31, 2012 but your last chance to convert to a paying subscription is December 31, 2011.

• I have a full year subscription/I have paid for longer than Jan 31st.
• We will be automatically refunding all unused subscription time to the same credit card that was used originally. We hope you enjoyed your time exploring LEGO Universe.

• What if I have an unused membership code?
• From December the 1st 2011, it is no longer possible to redeem membership codes to obtain game time in LEGO Universe.
  
  If you have purchased a membership on www.LEGOuniverse.com, you will need to redeem the membership code before December the 1st 2011 in order to play LEGO Universe.
  
  If you have purchased a membership, but do not redeem the code, you will of course not be charged for your purchase.

• What if I have an unused game card?
• From December the 1st 2011, it is no longer possible to redeem game cards to obtain game time in LEGO Universe.
  
  If you have a game card and have not yet scratched the foil on the back of the card off, you can get a full refund by returning it to the retailer from which it was purchased.
  
  If you have a game card and have scratched the foil off, you may request a LEGO e-Gift Card of equal value, provided that the game card has not previously been redeemed for game time.
  
  You can request an exchange with this form.

• Why? I love LEGO Universe!
• We love LEGO Universe too! Seeing you in the game was a really great experience for us and we’re going to miss everything that LEGO Universe accomplished. There are still lots of fun free games on lego.com and you can still share your memories of the game with other explorers on our message boards.

• Are you going to make any more games?
• It’s hard to say right now. Making an entire LEGO Universe was a pretty big job and the Mythrans are going to take a well deserved holiday. But as long as there is Imagination and LEGO fans in the world, there will always be ways in which we can make new experiences to celebrate that.

• Why can’t you just leave the game running and not add any new stuff?
• We thought about that too, but pretty soon you would have been bored playing in the same areas again and again. We decided it was better to stop now, while everyone is still enjoying the game and will leave with good memories.

• It is not responsible to create a long-term relationship with kids and then just drop them because you aren’t making enough money. I feel very let down by LEGO.
• We didn’t do this lightly – it was a big decision and one we simply had to take eventually as after 1 year the game has nowhere near as many subscribers as we needed to be able to keep it running. We have done our best to manage the ending well and have kept up a constant communication with the players so that they have time to adjust to the idea that the game will close. We are answering childrens’ letters and emails about the decision.
  
  Our decision to end LEGO Universe is similar to decisions we also make with LEGO Product collection, where favourite sets come and go to make space for new sets. It was time for LEGO Universe to end and hopefully new digital LEGO experiences will come in the future.

• This subscription was a present to my grandchild. Now it is as if I have given them a broken toy. What are you going to do about it?
• We’re sorry to hear that. As soon as the decision was taken to close the game, we started to prevent people from being able to sign up. If you bought your grandchild a game-card then you can either return it to the shop where you bought it or email us via lego.com/service with the number on the back. We will then be happy to ‘translate’ that card into a Gift Card that your grandchild can use to buy something from our Shop At Home website (legoshop.com).
  
  If you bought your grandchild a subscription to LEGO Universe, we will automatically refund unused game time to the credit card used for the purchase. They will also be able to play the final month for free.

• You have just stopped doing Design ByMe, now LEGO Universe – does this mean that LEGO is giving up on digital play?
• No! The sets that you can buy in stores and build on the floor at home will always be at the core of what LEGO creative play is all about, but we have not given up on trying to find ways to replicate that same “systematic creativity” of the LEGO System of Play in the digital world. Our very successful collaboration with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to develop LEGO video games is very strong and continues.