Hello everyone. It's been about 1.5 months since we released custom servers, and I want to share something that has been happening behind the scenes during that time, and to announce a few changes to custom servers as a result.
When we first released custom servers, the amount of interest people expressed surpassed even our best hopes. Entirely new communities were created, and many talented people have started making new assets and adding new features; some of them have even been contributed to Pony Town and improved the game for everyone.
Unfortunately, there have also been other people. People who saw us releasing custom servers as an easy opportunity to gain power and money.

These people and their actions have caught our attention from the very beginning. We didn't know these people before, so we gave them the benefit of the doubt and tried to negotiate with them so we can find solutions that work best for both sides. They seemed very nice and understanding when we were talking to them, and have been actively reassuring us that they mean no harm. We ended up making some agreements, but as we found out later they were never going to actually implement them and were just trying to gain more time, as what they've been doing cannot be accomplished overnight.
We had hoped they would run out of steam, but these people kept gaining attention, and grew more cocky and reckless, their niceness wearing off. As such we have been learning about their plans, which consist of gaining as much of our users as possible, damaging us in the process, as well as trying to work around our licenses to start making money off of our work without our permission. They have also been sharing false information about Pony Town and its developers, intentionally defaming our image, and they aren't afraid of us taking legal action against them taking money even though many would rightfully see it as stealing.

We've been trying to deal with the situation on our own as best we can, as we really don't want to bring more drama into the community if we can help it. But at this point we're sure these people will do whatever it takes to get what they want. They have already done a lot of damage and they have the potential to do even more, so we have to take action as a response.
First, we have to let the community know about the whole situation, but we aren't naming names just yet. If these people go ahead with what they planned, they will make their names known by their own hands. I want to make it clear that it isn't anyone from the pixel.horse team; I post this announcement here only because it affects all the custom servers, including them.
Second, we have to review our implementation of custom servers. We understood that releasing them in their current form was a huge risk and could backfire in ways we can't fully predict. Unfortunately, the current situation has led us to decide to stop releasing new updates for customs for now.

This doesn't mean we're taking anything down or discouraging people from making custom servers. You'll still be able to visit our site and download the 0.55.2 release at any time.
Us taking time to review the way we implement custom servers doesn't mean we're letting these people win. We're going to take into account many problems people have faced when they tried to use our current implementation. It is going to be a lot of work, but we're determined to release a better and more thought-through implementation.
If you have any questions, ideas or relevant information, please contact me through a DM, I'll answer everybody as best I can.