After careful consideration, Baen Books announces that Planet Baen, the online game where players earn free ebooks, will close shop on February 28, 2013. Planet Baen was an experiment by Baen Books in combining a Facebook friendly online game with the science fiction world of Baen Books and its authors. Players were able to earn free Baen ebooks by steadily playing the game and rising in level. The game itself had Baen ebook covers and links to almost every game element, and players were able to wishlist items while engaged in the game.

“We believe we have provided a viable online game that has been a lot of fun for thousands of players. We accomplished what we set out to do in this regard, and I think we did so admirably,” says Toni Weisskopf, Baen Book publisher. “But we found that, while we were steadily adding participants, and retaining players at a very good rate for an online game, we were not growing in a manner we thought was necessary to sustain the game long term. We have therefore reluctantly decided it is time to shut down.”

Planet Baen will remain open to players and new players until February 28, and all earned ebook coupons will be honored until December 31, 2013.

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www.baen.com