It was a sad day when LEGO Universe shut down. NetDevil's last title to be released before closing captured the spirit of Traveller's Tales' offline LEGO games rather well and provided a fairly unique experience. But alas, it shut down January 31st, 2012, having been online for just over a year at the time. The reason cited for the shutdown was "unsatisfactory revenue."

Despite its short time online, the game left quite the impression on the MMO community at large. So much so, in fact, that fans are currently working to bring the title back via a private server called "Darkflame Universe." Those behind the private server released a trailer yesterday, embedded below, showing off some of the features that they have managed to get working. They also announced that the Alpha will go live on January 31st.

The Darkflame Universe team is planning to set up a website and release more details about the Alpha as the launch date approaches. In the meantime, you can keep up with their progress via their Twitter feed.