Way back in February 2003, Sony Online Entertainment released a somewhat revolutionary console MMO in the form of EverQuest Online Adventures.  Taking advantage of the PlayStation 2’s Network Adaptor, to this day it’s one of the few MMOs to be released on a console and almost certainly the most successful.  

Nine years and one expansion pack later (Frontiers), SOE has announced that it will finally shut down the servers for EQOA on March 29th, 2012, with billing stopped on March 1st.  Those who have purchased prepaid time SOE will provide a pro-rated refund for any unused time, automatically applied to a valid credit card on file or sent as a check if no credit card is active on the account.  As a “thank you” (and a way to hopefully retain some of its customers) SOE is also giving subscription holders 3 months of Gold Membership to both EverQuest and EverQuest II.

Sony Online Entertainment sent the following notice to active subscribers:

Dear EverQuest Online Adventures Community Member,

We write to you today to inform you that on March 29th, 2012, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) will end all services for EverQuest Online Adventures (EQOA). The shutdown of EQOA is a very difficult decision, but we have decided that the end of March is the appropriate time to end the game.

We will stop all billing for EverQuest Online Adventures subscriptions on March 1, 2012. For players who have purchased prepaid time via a membership/subscription plan, SOE Game Card or other retail game card that extends the subscription period past February 29, 2012, SOE will provide a pro-rated refund for the unused time left on the subscription after that date. If a valid credit card is active on your account, any refund will be applied to such credit card. If your account is paid via an SOE Game Card or other retail game card, we will send a check in the refund amount to your current billing address within 90 days after the game ends. Please be sure to update your email and mailing address in your Station Account as this may be critical to the refund process.

If you have an All Access pass, please note that billing for All Access passes will continue after March 1, 2012 and we will not be issuing any refunds for All Access Passes.

We are extremely grateful to all of the EQOA fans and we truly appreciate the support we’ve received from each and every one of you over the course of the past nine years.

As a token of our appreciation for your loyalty, EQOA subscription holders will get 3 months of Gold Membership status in both EverQuest and EverQuest II (to those with accounts in good standing) beginning 3/16/12. Those who already have an EQ or EQII Gold Membership will have 3 months of free time added to their account at the end of their current billing cycle. If you are an All Access customer with an account in good standing you’ll get 3 additional months of All Access time added to your current plan.

Again, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to our player community for making EQOA one of the best online communities in gaming history. Sincerely,

Sony Online Entertainment