The first season of Blazeball, not baseball, ended with the dawn of prohibition. The umpires' eyes turned white, the Moab Desert disappeared into a gaping hellmouth, and star player Jaylen Hotdog Fingers was engulfed in flames. This was the beginning, not the end, of the deep and wonderful weirdness that characterizes browser-based sports gambling horror simulations - later seasons ended with "JRPG boss battles" - but three years later, the strange beauty had finally run its course.

"We respectfully announce that we have made the decision to end "Blaseball" as of today, with no intention of running the coronation era as planned," developer The Game Band announced today.

"In short, running Blaseball is not sustainable; since its inception, we have been battling the workload required to keep the team financially afloat and the staff healthy while remaining true to Blaseball. We have tried countless solutions to that end, but have come to the conclusion that this battle is not winnable in the long run. The cost, both literally and figuratively, is too great."

Therefore, the studio chose to put a definite end to "Baseball" rather than turn it into "something unrecognizable." It also means, unfortunately, that many members of the game band will be let go: the studio has stated that the size of the team will have to be changed "to ensure that we have enough runway to start making new ones." The number of layoffs is unknown, but according to The Game Band, those who are laid off will get severance pay, extended health care, and dedicated resources to find new jobs.

Signs that Brass Ball is in trouble have persisted for the past several months. The most recent season ended in early February, and a start date for the next season had not yet been announced. Shortly before that season ended, The Game Band took a hiatus from Blaseball, stating that after a year of rebuilding the game so that it could operate "in a sustainable way as a team," it had failed to fully achieve that goal.

"Our hope was that we could iterate and improve after launch, but we realized that trying to do that was unrealistic for the amount of work required. And it was negatively impacting your experience," the studio wrote. "It needs to be improved. We heard your concerns about accessibility, missing features, site navigation, and other performance issues, and often found that you were saying the exact same things we were saying to each other.

In order to complete the necessary work, the crowning of the Brass Ball was suspended, with a promise to return "as soon as possible." But the situation was clearly more dire than the game band had anticipated.

"Blaseball was about finding connection when the world felt out of your control," the studio wrote. It brought people together and connected us across immeasurable distances and despair." You found us, and everyone who touched this work became part of this story."

"To the fans of 'Baseball' who have cheered with us, wept with us, watched the sun die and the ages pass, defied the gods and death itself, and together weathered the end of the world as we knew it and what came after: thank you. It has been one of the great joys of our lives to make Brass Balls for you.