Sources tell us that today many of the Tabula Rasa team were let go. The plug has also been pulled on the game, according to both our sources and the official Tabula Rasa website:

To the Tabula Rasa Community,

Last November we launched what we hoped would be a ground breaking sci-fi MMO. In many ways, we think we've achieved that goal. Tabula Rasa has some unique features that make it fun and very different from every other MMO out there. Unfortunately, the fact is that the game hasn't performed as expected. The development team has worked hard to improve the game since launch, but the game never achieved the player population we hoped for.

So it is with regret that we must announce that Tabula Rasa will end live service on February 28, 2009.

Before we end the service, we'll make Tabula Rasa servers free to play starting on January 10, 2009.

We can assure you that through the next couple of months we'll be doing some really fun things in Tabula Rasa, and we plan to make staying on a little longer worth your while. For more details about what we are doing for Tabula Rasa players, please click here.

Stay tuned for more information. We thank you for your loyal support of the game and encourage you to take us up on the benefits we're offering Tabula Rasa players.

The Tabula Rasa Team

Our sources tell us that only a handful of people from the original Tabula Rasa team will be sticking around to maintain the game until it is shut down.

Update: NCsoft spokesman David Swofford confirmed to Kotaku that the game has been shut down and that there will be lay-offs.

"We’re going to be scaling down the TR team in preparation for the end of live service. But for now Brian, we currently don’t know how many people will be affected by that."

Horrible times. Horrible times.

"This is an exciting time for the Tabula Rasa team," says Garriott..."With closed beta testing now in progress, we're excited to hear more what our players think. With fast-action and tactical combat in an RPG setting, a deep and interesting fictional universe, and many feature innovations, we think we've created a game that represents the next generation of MMO games and will revolutionize the way people play online games."

NCsoft Announces Closed Beta Testing for Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa

Massively Multiplayer Online Computer Game from Legendary Designer Entering Final Stages of Development; Plans in Place for Fall Launch

Austin, Texas, May 2, 2007—NCsoft today announced that closed beta testing is beginning for the company's highly anticipated online computer game, Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa . The start of closed beta marks the game's final development stages as Tabula Rasa approaches an anticipated launch this fall in North America and Europe.

Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa is a massively multiplayer online (MMO) role playing PC game that places players in an epic sci-fi story where they will be challenged by dynamic and fast-paced adventures on alien worlds.

Garriott's signature creative vision introduces several fresh features to the MMO genre such as a character cloning system, role-playing on the battlefield and a mystical "Logos" language and powers system. They are the types of touches that players have come to expect over the years from a Richard Garriott game.

"This is an exciting time for the Tabula Rasa team," says Garriott, executive producer at NCsoft and the Austin, Texas-based Destination Games development team. "With closed beta testing now in progress, we're excited to hear more what our players think. With fast-action and tactical combat in an RPG setting, a deep and interesting fictional universe, and many feature innovations, we think we've created a game that represents the next generation of MMO games and will revolutionize the way people play online games."

Garriott is best known for creating the best-selling Ultima computer game series, including the first commercially successful MMO game, Ultima Online. In 2006, he was presented with two industry honors for his work in the games industry. That year Garriott was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame and later was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards.

More details on Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa and closed beta testing for the game can be found at http://www.PlayTR.com. More information on NCsoft can be found at http://www.PlayNC.com.