The Transformers Universe team have announced that, as of today, they will be closing down and issuing refunds to paying members with the full closure being at 10am GMT on Jan 31st 2015. You can read the full announcement below

Today Jagex and Hasbro can confirm that Transformers Universe will close. This decision comes at an important time for both companies as they both realign their plans and focuses for 2015.

What does this mean for our players?

We’re hugely disappointed, but the game will be closing over the coming weeks before its full closure at 10am GMT on 31st January 2015.

As a team, we can’t thank players enough for the support that they have shown us over the last few years of development, and even more so during our BETA period.

What’s next?

The shutdown period will begin from today. As part of the winding down we will be refunding all those that have purchased a Founders Pack, as well as anyone that has purchased relic bundles and starter packs. These refunds should be all processed in the next 30 days. In addition we will be closing the ability for new players to make accounts, those of you that already have accounts will continue to be able to use them until the closure date.

If you haven’t received a refund after 16th January 2015 and believe you should have, then please contact the Jagex customer services team (tu_refunds@support.jagex.com). We will also be pushing an update live today that will switch off the ability for players to buy any more relic packs, or starter bundles.

As mentioned, on 31st Jan 2015 @ 10am GMT we will be shutting down all servers and forums and will freeze all Transformers Universe related accounts. These accounts will then be live for another 60 days (approx.) for any final queries before deletion on 31st March 2015.

Between now and the date of closure the Jagex CM team will continue to operate on the forums and we will provide relevant updates on the website as necessary.

If you have any queries about your account or refunds please contact our customer support team on tu_refunds@support.jagex.com. Please understand that they may be very busy during this time but they will respond as quickly as possible.

Thank You

Once again we want to thank all of the players that have played Transformers Universe and all those that have worked on the project. We’re sure you have thoughts and feelings that you’d like to share on this, so please do so on our forums. Please bear in mind that this is obviously a challenging time for all involved, especially the CM team. There will be plenty of things we can’t comment on, so please respect their position.

Sincerely

Transformers Universe Development Team

Takara Tomy's Transformers PR account has tweeted out some new comparison images of the Generation 1 Ultra Magnus toy with the soon-to-be-released Masterpiece Ultra Magnus figure (MP-22), the toy is due on shelves at the end of month. You can view the images below.

We have found some new Transformers related trademarks filed with the USPTO by Hasbro Inc. The trademarks are:

1. M.A.S.K. - MOBILE ARMORED STRIKE KOMMAND

You can view all of the details of these and other trademarks within our exclusive Trademark Application area of the website which features trademark applications from 1984 through until the present day.

We have found some new Transformers related trademarks filed with the USPTO by Hasbro Inc. The trademarks are:

1. DARKLING LORDS

You can view all of the details of these and other trademarks within our exclusive Trademark Application area of the website which features trademark applications from 1984 through until the present day.

Famitsu report that a Lucky Draw gold chromed Megadrive Megatron will be released by TakaraTomy in partnership with Sega.  The figure, which can be seen below, will be limited to just 5 pieces and is reportedly going to be a "made to order" item where in order to enter, you must complete a questionnaire that Sega are running.  The figure comes with a "Streets of Rage" cartridge rather than the Sonic game that comes with the standard release.

Takara-Tomy have announced that a new lucky Draw, a Gold Age of Extinction's High Octane Bumblebee will be given our after a draw on Twitter based around a Real-Robot Battle TV show

Nippon Television Network is running a program called "Real Robot Battle" - a show that pits teams and their home-built robots against each other. In Tuesday 2 December the finale of the show will air, with the winning team going on to face Optimus Prime himself in a special exhibition battle.  The contest, open to Japanese residents only,　is to tweet their predictions for which of the six competing teams will win the contest and see if they have the touch when it comes to facing the heroic Autobot leader himself!

Full details are on the Takara-Tomy page for this event (Japanese language)

The good news continues for Masterpiece fans as MP-21 Bumblebee has now been released in Japan and Asian with various listings available on eBay including delivery to the UK for £45.  If you are looking to get the figure in time for Christmas then you should think about ordering one very soon.

Robot Kingdom have posted some images of the just released Transformers-Evangelion cross-overr MP-10 Optimus Prime repaint onto their Facebook page. You can view a copy of the images after the jump.  You can also click here to view the Evangelion MP-10 Optimus Prime figures which are listed on eBay.com.

Reports are coming in via former members of the Trans-Europe Express group that Masterpiece Grimlock has now been spotted on the shelves of Toys R Us stores in both Germany and Poland.  The figure is the UK release with a sticker added to the box in the native language.

We'll keep you updated with more sightings are we receive them

Perfect Effects have released five preview images of their latest figure Leonidas. The toy is their version of Beast Wars Second Lio Convoy but at the scale of MP-10 Optimus Prime. You can view the grey prototype below.

We have updated the Transformers toys instruction sheets section of the website with some new PDF instructon sheets entries.

The following entries were update with PDF scans that were previously missing:

1. tbt-wait-transformers Instructions

You can download copies of the instruction sheets from our Transformers toys instruction sheets section of the website.

Hasbro has released eighteen new images from their upcoming Transformers Generations "Combiner Wars" series, where every toy can combine.

The packaging of the figures certainly has a more premium feel to and the toys come with a collector card, a bit like Takara used to do.

We have updated the Transformers toys instruction sheets section of the website with some new PDF instructon sheets entries.

The following entries were update with PDF scans that were previously missing:

1. TBT-playbook3-Transformers-heatwave Instructions

You can download copies of the instruction sheets from our Transformers toys instruction sheets section of the website.

Hasbro have uploaded a new video to their channel from the Transformers Designer Desk series of videos.  The latest video covers the Combiner Wars Menasor and Superion figures.

We have updated the Transformers toys instruction sheets section of the website with some new PDF instructon sheets entries.

The following entries were update with PDF scans that were previously missing:

1. TBT-playbook2-Transformers-heatwave Instructions

You can download copies of the instruction sheets from our Transformers toys instruction sheets section of the website.