Depressing news

[MageBlue]

From EQemulator discord in announcements channel :


Akk — 9/26/2025 11:31 PM
Farewell

Hi @everyone,

I’ve been part of EQEmulator for nearly two decades. Most of you know me as Akkadius, but at the end of the day, I’m just someone who fell in love with EverQuest like the rest of you. I still remember when I was little almost 25 years ago, my dad handed me the original EverQuest box after he had been playing it and said, “Hey bud, take a look at this.” That moment pulled us into a world we’ll never forget.


Long before I ever found it, EQEmu was already here - created by passionate players determined to preserve and explore the game we loved. As I grew older and had less time to play, that same passion drew me into emulation: discovering how the game worked, diving into technology, and rapidly developing my skills. In time, I dedicated years of my life to building and supporting the EQEmu project. Along the way, I’ve learned and grown immensely, and I’ve had the privilege of watching so many others do the same.

EverQuest wasn’t just a game - it had a profound and lasting impact on all of our lives. It was friendships, marriages, careers, and entire communities. EQEmu has always been about preserving the experiences official support left behind - old expansions, mechanics, and ways of playing that no longer existed. We built worlds that carried on history, and created new worlds fans dreamed up. I’ve given tens of thousands of hours to this project, but I was never alone - it was all of us, an extended family of passionate fans. Every developer, server operator, tester, player, and dreamer deserves credit for keeping this alive.

The truth is, the environment has drastically changed. For decades, EverQuest’s creators knew about the emulator scene. We weren’t hidden - we were tolerated, even respected. Today, that spirit has been replaced with hostility and lawsuits across the broader emulator scene. Seeing passionate fans treated this way is heartbreaking. I can’t keep devoting myself to something that punishes the very people who kept its spirit alive. I wish the current IP holder the best, but I don’t believe this was the answer - and I don’t think anyone truly wins from it.

So I’m done. I’m stepping away from EQEmu, winding down my projects and the services I’ve hosted, and moving on. As I step back, most services I run will shut down within 72 hours, by Monday Midnight, Tuesday morning. I’ll try to ease the transition where I can, but many things will simply go offline. This truly feels like the end of an era, but every era leaves behind a legacy - and ours has been extraordinary. As the Court has not addressed the scope of the injunction, as recently requested by THJ, my time here has run its course.

This isn’t easy - it hurts more than I can put into words. My heart is shattered. Even before this case, my summer was already filled with personal tragedy and deep loss - the hardest season of my life. I was already struggling to find the energy to keep contributing. I’ve poured countless hours, effort, and stress into this project, and the toll has been immense. But after 18 years, my priority now has to be being a dad, being present for my family, and putting that same fire into new chapters of my life. So regardless of how the climate continues to progress, this is a choice I have made.

I know this may deeply affect some of you, and I don’t say that lightly. Our worlds and communities have been home for countless players and creators alike, and I’m truly sorry for the disruption this will cause. My hope is that the communities who built them can continue in their own way.

I am deeply grateful to the fans of this game, and to this community. We all know how special EverQuest has been - but what truly makes online worlds unforgettable is the people who share them. Thank you to everyone who built, played, created, and dreamed alongside me. EQEmu was never just a project - it was proof of what extreme passion and community can achieve. That legacy will always endure.


Much love,
Akkadius