Cancellation[edit]

Microsoft had begun promoting the game; the company had hosted a party at Gen Con for fans.
On February 12, 2004, MGS announced the cancellation of Mythica. Microsoft claimed the
cancellation was not due to the lawsuit, and cited the competitive MMORPG market and a desire to
not "spread ourselves out over multiple MMORPG projects."[2]
At the time, Microsoft operated Asheron's Call and Asheron's Call 2, and was planning to
publish Brad McQuaid's new MMORPG: Vanguard: Saga of Heroes for PC and True Fantasy Live
Online, an anime-esque MMOG for the Xbox console. However, as with Mythica, the latter game
was never released.
As a result of the decision, around forty positions at MGS were cut. Among those were executive
producer Matt Wilson, senior designer Hal Milton and lead designer Joel Manners.
Some commentators said at the time that the cancellation was evidence that the (English language)
massively multiplayer market had become saturated, though World of Warcraft, released in
November 2004, subsequently became the most popular MMORPG in the West with over 3 million
Western subscribers as of December 2007.