As we all know, attempting to start Hawken after January 2nd yielded a brick wall at the Logging In screen. In preparing to attempt to get around that enforced expiration date, I found out something interesting - the expiration date may have expired in its own right.
That's right: I booted Hawken, auto logged in, and was sent to my garage. Admittedly, the awful UI changes still make my eyes hurt and the spread of pay-to-win cancer is equally painful, but I can (sort of) play Hawken once more.
To note: this is circa March 1, 2018 @ 4:35 PM EST.
If anyone sees this post, try to load up your game as well! You might be able to marvel at your mechs once again.
I have no idea why PC Hawken was able to authenticate and retrieve my information, but it's certainly a welcome surprise. The server lists are emtpy, as expected, but the leaderborad shows players names (presumably from console records). My PvP and PvE win rates are still present, but much of my other stats have been either partially forgotten or entirely reset to 0. I still have my HC as well.
How peculiar this whole thing is.
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Update March 1, 2018 @ 5:09 PM EST:
I checked in on the playhawken website, which has this interesting bit:
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Update March 10, 2018 @ 12:22 AM EST:
I took another look at the playhawken website, which is now missing the login region:
Additionally, I attempted to start Hawken itself but was met with the familiar, "online service is dead" message and loop into the garage.