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My Little Pony Online, an MMO developed without the blessing of Hasbro, has shut down because of a copyright and trademark infringement claim, according to a post on the game's official blog.
About a month ago, the game's developers received "a complaint about copyright and trademark infringement." They initially thought little of it, but upon investigation, discovered that it was "very real."As a result, they shut down the game and ended development.
"Hasbro is not to be blamed here," form administrator ToastyJustice wrote. "As per U.S. Trademark law, as soon as an infringement comes to light, they are obligated to defend the trademark, or they will lose it. They had no choice in the matter, regardless of what they thought of the project or how it benefited them."
According to the post, many of the game's developers will remain together as Starlight Studios and work on a new "pony related" project. They hope to have it completed by August 2013 to coincide with BronyCon, a My LIttle Pony: Friendship is Magic convention. You can get the details about Starlight Studios' plans and how you can help in a separate blog post.
