NetEase and WB Games have terrible and abrupt news for fans of the mobile MMO Harry Potter: The Magic Awakened: The sun is setting in the west this autumn.

“It is time Harry Potter: The Magic Awakens to officially close its servers in the Americas, Europe, and Oceania on October 29, 2024,” the companies announced this morning. “The game will continue to be available to players in Asia, including mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, as well as other select territories in Asia and MENA.”

To date, the game has already been removed from Apple and Google’s mobile stores and the cash shop has been closed for new purchases. According to NetEase, existing players can continue playing and use existing cash shop balances “until the servers in the Americas, Europe and Oceania regions are officially closed on October 29, 2024.”

No real reason is given for the exit (“the time has come” is not a reason), but we must note here that the game only launched a year ago, so it didn’t really have much time for development. Our own Fight or Kite columnist Sam was a diehard fan of the game and wrote about it extensively, but he mentioned more than once that NetEase’s nerfs and neglect of localization irritated Western gamers.

However, he also points out that this move is oddly sudden; the team only released new ability cards and powers last week, and NetEase was in the middle of a design competition. Gamers on social media are understandably upset by this apparent waste of time for a well-received and apparently profitable game – as well as the fact that the PC port available in China will likely never come here.

Our condolences go out to the players and all developers affected by the shutdown.