Matrix Online loses key (only) designer

By Oli Welsh Published 11 February, 2009

Story guru takes red pill after seven years.

The tiny team at Sony Online Entertainment that keeps The Matrix Online up and running has just lost a key member. Ben Chamberlain, a.k.a. Rarebit, has announced he's leaving after seven years on the game, in a forum post spotted by Massively.

Although not involved in the technical upkeep of the MMO, Chamberlain has been a one-man designer and game master on The Matrix Online for some years now. He has single-handedly kept a story going for the game's minuscule but dedicated community with a steady stream of live events.

Chamberlain said that his decision to leave SOE (and the games industry) was "purely personal", and that he he would be posting an outline of the story that he had worked out for the rest of the year, tying up most loose ends. "These will, I hope, answer some questions. Where the story goes from here, however, will be - finally - up to you," he said.

This implies that SOE is either unable or unwilling to replace him, and the creative direction of the game will now be left in the hands of its players. "Fortunately, the day-to-day operation of the game servers, aside from maybe a crash here or there, doesn't have anything to do with the coming or going of one small game designer," Chamberlain said, although the community feels different.

"Sadly this could be the final nail in the coffin for this game," commented one poster.

Eurogamer, in the impressive form of Chris Donlan, encountered Chamberlain at last year's SOE Fan Faire in Las Vegas and reported that he "bears a disturbing resemblance to Agent Smith".

"I don't count on ever again having a chance to work on such a cool project, with such devoted fans," Chamberlain concluded. "It is those fans that I have to thank particularly; even if we drove each other crazy now and then, I think many of us will agree that we had our moments.

"My regret is that I have been unable to find a way to stretch those moments out into the full-fledged online Matrix experience that you all deserve."

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (19) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • DB2k #1 3 years ago

    I didn't know that was still around even!

  • speedjack #2 3 years ago

    Anyone know how many player they have ?

    Maybe he's off to join Star War Galaxies.

  • midnight_walker #3 3 years ago

    Surely if he was exiting he would be taking the blue pill...

  • booner #4 3 years ago

    What's Matrix Online?

  • Doctor_What #5 3 years ago

    I was on the beta for this. It was interesting, but not enough to get me to buy it. Still, it's good to hear it lasted so long.

  • Benno #6 3 years ago

    isn't there only about 12 people who play this?

  • AHiFi #7 3 years ago

    You can't doubt his dedication at least.

  • Gearskin #8 3 years ago

    I play this! From time to time. The community is indeed small, but very very dedicated. When I first jacked in, one of the most respected players was all over me, I thought it was an AI trainer or something. But no, it was a player lol

    Didn't find out until much later.

    Good game! Nice community. I hope this doesn't affect it in a major way.

    EDIT - definately more than 12 players. When people gather, they gather in large groups.
    Edited by 1 at 11/02/09 @ 11:19

  • DanWhitehead #9 3 years ago

    isn't there only about 12 people who play this?

    Perhaps. Or maybe we're all in the game, and there are only twelve people not playing it? Hmm? HMM?

    And so on...

  • kangarootoo #10 3 years ago

    @midnight_walker

    Maybe the suggestion is that he woke up to the reality of his situation :)

    Sounds like he just burnt out, which is always a shame to hear. 7 years is a long time for anyone to be on the same project though.

  • RedSparrows #11 3 years ago

    Kudos to him, from what little I know it sounds like he served people well.

  • Red-Moose #12 3 years ago

    I quite like this when it came out and was recently considering giving it a go again. I liked the way the machines could manipulate the surrounding environment with big billboards, etc., or Morpheus would give some speech and there was loads of people around, it was very cool, and i think as an MMORPG it was ahead of it's time, as it came out in the Ultima Online era. I think I was on 33.6k when it came out.
    Edited by 1 at 11/02/09 @ 12:00

  • rudedudejude #13 3 years ago

    its was quite fun, but just like every other SOE product, went down the pan.

  • Kami #14 3 years ago

    Went down the pan with that awful beta, long before SoE touched it. But this guy has clearly been working his ass off for a small audience for seven years, and I salute him.

  • neilka #15 3 years ago

    "as an MMORPG it was ahead of it's time, as it came out in the Ultima Online era. I think I was on 33.6k when it came out."

    ...In 2005?

  • Xerx3s #16 3 years ago

    Am I the only one who imagines him communicating this from a phone box and then afterwards flying off?

  • Kyle #17 3 years ago

    Yes.

  • Red-Moose #18 3 years ago

    @neilka: actually i was in the beta since the year earlier, and back then, yes I am slightly embarassed to admit for several months i was still on dial up. DSL and Cable broadband wasn't exactly widespread in Ireland then; we mostly communicated by tin cans and string :)

    Regarding UO, it was in it's prime time around the same time as the beta for Matrix Online was being launched.
    Edited by 1 at 11/02/09 @ 19:43

  • Moz #19 3 years ago

    must say i'm surprised it's still going at all. Played constantly when it first come out (replacing early days WOW as my mmo of choice)
    but then it transfered to Sony and they bumped the subs up to £12!!!! which just seemed rediculas so my friends and I stopped playing.