"The end of an era": Fans distraught by the news of Netmarble’s decision of shutting down the BTS World game

The latest news of the BTS World game being discontinued has left fans of the group perplexed and distraught. The decision announced by the gaming company Netmarble on September 5, 2023, has shocked the Bangtan world and the group's fans, aka ARMYs, who are stunned beyond measure. This would be the second game after SuperStar BTS to have met the same unfortunate fate.

Netmarble, the gaming company that had designed the iconic BTS World game, made an announcement on its official forum of putting an end to the classic game's service. The game was first launched on June 26, 2019, and after just four years, the termination of the game indeed marks the end of an era, as noted by a fan.

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"I'm DEVASTED": Fans express their sadness over the BTS World game being shut down

To make matters worse, the game is no longer available for download on either the App Store or Play Store, which has made ARMYs even more unhappy about the situation. In light of this unfortunate development, the official statement by Netmarble only caused further tension and desolation among the fans:

"Hello, this is the BTS WORLD MANAGER. Thank you for your love and support for BTS WORLD. This announcement is to inform that BTS WORLD will be discontinuing its service starting Tuesday, December 26 2023."

Thus, fans are showering their discontent over the announcement on X:

On June 2, 2022, Netmarble released the final installment, chapter 22, of the much-beloved game. The release of the last leaflet of the iconic game was the declaration of the game’s nearing denouement. A similar fate was faced by BTS' other mobile app game, SuperStar BTS, which was discontinued in 2020 after just two years of its launch.

In an attempt to give it a graceful curtain call, Netmarble even reduced the difficulty level of the last chapter of the game by providing more gems to the players and dropping the 5-star rate cards. Additionally, they opened the DNA store in the game, making every card accessible for purchase.

Following the announcement, some fans are pleading with the gaming company to release the archive from the BTS World game, for which the hit-making K-pop group filmed and recorded a lot of content for their fans. ARMYs are requesting that the gaming company release those videos from the game archive in the hope of being able to download and save them.

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Meanwhile, ARMYs are sceptical about HYBE's latest game, which was released in the summer of 2022. The new mobile game BTS: In The Seom was launched on June 28, 2022, and has been well-received by the fans due to its intriguing storyline, engaging interface, and charming music, composed and produced by BTS member Suga himself. Nevertheless, the discontinuation of another legacy game is hard to bear for fans.

Although Netmarble’s decision to terminate the game’s service could have stemmed from a plethora of reasons, that did seem to console the distraught ARMYs who have been playing this game over the years and have gotten immensely attached to it.