Exactly one year ago today Sony Interactive Entertainment shut down Gravity Rush 2’s online services, less than 2 years after the game’s launch. Since then, players are greeted with error messages whenever the game tries to access the online services, such as when they complete challenges or take a picture of a treasure chest they found. Worse still is that our request to patch the game so that players could still unlock all the in-game items tied to the online services fell on deaf ears. Even the game’s online leaderboards are gone.
The closure was initially even scheduled to take place on the game’s 1st anniversary, but was delayed by six months. Whether or not the #DontForgetGravityRush campaign was the reason for the delay is something that Sony hasn’t officially commented on, but we’d like to think it played at least a part in their decision.
And despite the eventual closure, the #DontForgetGravityRush campaign didn’t go by unnoticed. Despite the relatively small fanbase (compared to other PlayStation exclusive titles), fans supported the campaign and sent messages to various PlayStation social media channels and some of the key people working there, politely asking them not to take down the online services. Plenty of gaming media websites around the world also took note of our efforts and wrote articles about the campaign. And I’m especially thankful for the fact that the vast majority of fans remained respectful in their messages to Sony. At the very least, we’ve shown that Gravity Rush is a special franchise.
And while we lost Gravity Rush 2’s online services, the good news is that both Gravity Rush Remastered and Gravity Rush 2 are still playable on the current-gen PS4. And in a recent interview, the game’s director Keiichiro Toyama said that, if he got the opportunity, he’d like to work on a new Gravity Rush game. That makes it all the more important for the fans to spread the word about the franchise. With the confirmed PS4 backwards compatibility on Sony’s next PlayStation console, the games will remain readily available on the PS Store for new people to discover in the foreseeable future.
As such, I’d like to ask people to join us for a brief campaign once more. Starting today and up until July 26th, use the #DontForgetGravityRush hashtag on Twitter and Instagram to share your favorite screenshots of the games and/or talk about what makes the Gravity Rush games so special to you. Between the unique world, the distinct artstyle, its endearing characters and excellent soundtrack, there’s a lot to like about Gravity Rush and it’s up to us to make sure people don’t forget about the franchise.
As usual I’ll collect the tweets and Instagram posts and post an overview after July 26th. You don’t have to @ anyone from Sony this time around, this is simply about spreading the word about Gravity Rush. Thanks for reading, and I hope to read all your messages over the next few days!