Lineage may be one of the most internationally popular and significant MMORPGs, but now its time has come to an end, at least as far as the Western world is concerned. NCsoft has announced that, because Lineage is "no longer financially viable in the West," it will be permanently shutting down the game's North American servers on June 29, ending its decade-long run in that territory.

As part of this process, NCsoft has chosen to stop billing its customers for the game as of the date of the announcement. People will no longer be able to make new accounts for the game, but every pre-existing account, even inactive accounts, will have free access to the game until the servers are shut down. NCsoft will also refund anyone who has already paid for subscriptions for this period. The company has also planned several events to make sure that the last few months of the game are exciting ones, and is even offering to let Lineage subscribers try some of its other games for free. NCsoft's announcement and other information about the upcoming server shutdown can be found at the game's official website.