Mown down by consumer indifference.
A free-to-play road safety MMO launched by the Department of Transport last year that has only managed a few thousand sign-ups in recent months has cost UK taxpayers nearly £2.8 million, it has been revealed.
According to documents dug up by Puffbox and reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Code of Everand, which launched in November 2009, has cost £700,000 to upkeep since launch, on top of initial development costs.
In the months following launch things looked reasonably rosy, with the game attracting 54,000 users at its peak in March but interest quickly dropped off, with new subscribers on its site virtually flat-lining towards the end of 2010.