That's right, free character transfers are so popular that everything must go by October 15th! Go from the twelve closing servers to the remaining thirteen, that is. From the SOE forum post on the subject:

Due to the overwhelming success of the recent Free Character Transfer Service, we want to inform you that on October 15, 2009, at 5:00 PM PT, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) will close the following 12 Star Wars Galaxies servers:

o Corbantis
o Europe-Infinity
o Intrepid
o Kauri
o Kettemoor
o Lowca
o Naritus
o Scylla
o Tarquinas
o Tempest
o Valcyn
o Wanderhome

Players have between now and October 15th to vacate the premises and head to a more populated server for some Death Trooper re-killing action. Any characters remaining on said servers past October 15th will be permantly removed from your account, so if you're a lapsed SWG player on any of those servers, you might want to hop on and move your Jedi to a safer harbor.

UPDATE: Just got this in from a QA lead: "Beginning October 16th, 2009 at 12:01 AM PT you will be able to contact Customer Support and for the standard Character Transfer fee of $50.00 you will be able to schedule a transfer for your character, eligible structures and inventory."

So safe, just expensive.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR SWG ACCOUNT [SWG Forums via MMORPG.com]

Rumors of the Lair developers closure surfaced in December of last year, following rumors that half of the staff had been let go. The rumors pointed towards the cancellation of their Superman project due to the failure of Brash Entertainment as a major factor in the layoffs and closing, which is backed up by the official statement appearing on the Factor 5 website today.

We are sorry to announce the closure of the San Rafael-based Factor 5 Inc. studio, but the obstacles created by the sudden bankruptcy of Brash Entertainment for the continuation of operations have turned out too great to overcome in the current economic climate.

Note that this development doesn't mean the end to the Factor 5 name. The statement continues:

Factor 5 GmbH, which has been creating games since 1998 with its headquarters in Cologne, Germany, is completely unrelated to Factor 5 Inc. and the circumstances surrounding Factor 5 Inc.'s recent challenges. Although we are saddened by Factor 5 Inc.'s situation, our corporation will remain unaffected by these developments and has partnered with both old and new friends in the industry who will reveal our upcoming projects over the next months.

In other words, that other company had problems, and the German branch of Factor 5 would like to put as much distance between those problems and it as humanly possible.

We extend our sympathy to those left jobless by the studio's closing, even if most of them have hopefully moved on to bigger and better things by now.

Factor 5 Website [Official Site]

Be there tomorrow to witness the end of a particularly short era, as the chief baddies in massively multiplayer sci-fi shooter Tabula Rasa mount a full-scale invasion of just about everything. Tomorrow marks the last day of the game's operation, and if the more recent updates are any indication, the development team isn't going to go out quietly.

We request that all military personnel begin fortifying defenses at every AFS base in preparation for a massive Bane assault. If enemy troop movements are as large as we fear, and the Neph are truly prepared to lead all out war against us, this may be our last stand. Penumbra has been informed of the situation and is standing by on the use of their last resort weapon. We can not afford to be complacent or uncertain, but if it is truly our destiny to be destroyed, we are taking them all with us.

The end begins at 8PM, either GMT or CST depending on your server, coming to a close at midnight, when the servers shut down forever.

Even if you haven't played much since launch, it might be worthwhile logging in to watch the game die, if only to say you were there.

Tabula Rasa's Final Feedback Friday [PlayTR]

The troubled company had been trying to find a buyer or secure financing in order to stay afloat, but today they announced that their last-ditch attempts had failed.

"This is the only possible path for our company," James A. Marcum, acting chief executive, said in a statement. "We are extremely disappointed by this outcome."

The closing of the remaining 567 stores could mean unemployment for another 30,000 Americans at a time when being unemployed is not something you want to be. It's also another blow to the nation's malls, as the closures will result in a flood of empty big box retail locations in an economy where no one is in a position to fill them.

"It will bring to market a glut of big box spaces across the country," said John Bemis, head of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.'s retail leasing team. "It will have one of the largest impacts on big box real estate across the country."

Troubling news indeed. Our condolences to those who will be left jobless in the wake of the closures. We wish them the best of luck in finding gainful employment elsewhere.

Circuit City to liquidate remaining US stores [San Francisco Chronicle]

It is with much sadness that today we announce our intention to close the European and North American RF Online game servers operated by Codemasters. Our licence for RF Online is due to expire shortly and unfortunately, despite several weeks of negotiations with CCR, the Korean developers of the title, we have not been able to reach an agreement to renew the contract.

Poor game. Wasn't a big fan of the combat system, but I mourn the loss of cute anime elf girls no matter if they can fight in entertaining ways or not. My condolences to fans of the game, though considering it took us five days to hear about the closing I don't think they're listening.
RF Online North American & European Game Servers To Close [Official Site via Gamasutra]