I played The Flock at this year’s Game Developers Conference, and I really enjoyed its balance of creepiness, intense moments, and its asymmetric multiplayer. While asymmetric multiplayer is all the rage nowadays, The Flock developers Vogelsap has announced something quite different alongside the game’s release window.

When the game launches in Q3 of this year, it will come with a deadline – a pool of literal “flock” that are depleted as players die in game. Once the population of “flock” runs out, the game will no longer be purchasable by newcomers. Here’s where things get really interesting, however:

The players who own the game prior to its public closure will be able to take part in a “climactic finale,” after which the game will go permanently offline. Yes, once this multiplayer game reaches its final conclusion, it will truly go offline by the developers design, and not by a publisher pulling the plug.

“A multiplayer game can take players to incredible heights, but at some point gamers will start to play less, get disinterested and stop playing altogether,” said Jeroen Van Hasselt, creative director, Vogelsap.“In opposition to other multiplayer games, we want The Flock’s experience to inspire a sense of awe, to keep players eagerly anticipating what is coming next and to end with a memorable climax.”

Here’s a bit more about the Flock:

The Flock are a tragic race as they are doomed to extinction. The titular abominations are irrevocably attracted to the light of the Artifact which will lead to their death or transformation into a whole other being.Trying to convey this story into the game as well as the team’s aspiration to find a solution to the anticlimactic ending of multiplayer games, resulted in the idea of the Flock’s population countdown.

How do you guys feel about the game having a declarative ending? Sound off in the comments below.