Kotaku: archlord

Archlord Buckles Swashes Worldwide

Mike Fahey — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:40:00 MDT

Webzen has officially launched European and North American servers for MMO Archlord, picking up where Codemasters left off and delivering a brand new Swashbuckler character class to the West in the process.

As we reported in September, long-time Archlord North American and European operator Codemasters had lost the rights to run the game, with South Korean publisher Webzen taking over the reins this month. Now the North American and European servers are live, and Webzen is accepting pre-registration for transfers from the Codemasters servers to their own, with in-game cash being offered as an incentive for making the move. Codemasters players can visit Webzen's Archlord home page for details on making the move.

Sweetening the deal for Western players is the introduction of the new Swashbuckler character class, a close-quarters female fighter sporting bunny ears, as seen in the picture here. All this, plus a bunny girl? I, for one, welcome our new South Korean overlords.

Codemasters Says Goodbye To ArchLord

Mike Fahey — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:20:00 MDT

Codemasters has lost the rights to operate its first free-to-play MMO ArchLord in North America and Europe, but a new operator is stepping up to make sure the players can keep playing.

The Orcs, Elves, and Humans of Chantra will be moving to a new home on October 3rd, when Korean publisher Webzen takes over the operation of the game in North America and Europe. According to an email notice sent out to players, Codemasters was unable to come to a renewal agreement with Korean ArchLord developer NHN, resulting in a rather speedy transition between the two companies. Codies shuts things down on the 1st of October, and Webzen looks to have things up and running two days later. That trick never works, but we've got our fingers crossed.

According to the ArchLord transition FAQ posted at Codemasters' website, Webzen will be receiving all of the character data for the game, so players shouldn't have to worry about losing their hard-earned gear or experience. As a precaution, Codemasters has shut down new account generation and the game's cash store to ensure that there are no outstanding issues come October 1st.

North American and European players are urged to visit Webzen's ArchLord page for more information.

Thanks to Paul for passing this info along!

Codemasters Details Archlord Update

Mike Fahey — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:40:00 MDT

Codemasters Online's free-to-play MMO ArchLord is technically getting a bit more free as the company readies the third free expansion pack, Episode 3: Spirits Awakening, which adds "up to 30% new game content". I am assuming they measured that out using suitably scientific methods. The update will introduce 3 new game zones, over 80 new skills, new ArchLord abilities, collectible armor sets, and a bunch of new enemies to thrash soundly about the head and neck, all of which adds up to more or less 30%. This pleases the Relfling.

Ed Relf, Director of Marketing, Codemasters Online commented, "We are pleased to be able to set out our exciting new expansion plans for ArchLord. As recently announced ArchLord is now more popular than ever with thousands of new players taking up the challenge every day to compete to become the games all-ruling leader!

Episode 3 is due to go live "in the coming weeks".

Codemasters Online Reveal Expansion Plans for ArchLord MMO

ArchLord, the popular subscription-free MMORPG readies for all-new free game content.

Friday, 20th June (2pm GMT) – Codemasters Online are pleased to reveal that their popular free MMORPG ArchLord will be receiving an overhaul in the shape of the all-new, FREE Expansion Episode 3: Spirits Awakening. Due to go live in the coming weeks, Episode 3: Spirits Awakening adds up to 30% new game content to the existing game when this free update goes live.

ArchLord Episode 3: Spirits Awakening adds a number of new features & free game content including:
• New game content – Up to 30% all-new game content
• All new zones – 3 new game zones for players to challenge
• New class skills – Over 80 new skills
• ArchLord abilities – New ruling ArchLord skills and abilities
• New armour & items – New collectible armour sets with unique stats
• New monsters & enemies – New monsters and zone bosses

Ed Relf, Director of Marketing, Codemasters Online commented, "We are pleased to be able to set out our exciting new expansion plans for ArchLord. As recently announced ArchLord is now more popular than ever with thousands of new players taking up the challenge every day to compete to become the games all-ruling leader! Episode 3 adds a significant amount of new content to what is already a leading free MMORPG and we look forward to delivering this free expansion to our players in the coming weeks."

ArchLord is a premier free online role-playing game allowing players to download and play the game for free with no monthly subscriptions or commitments. The online game challenges thousands of players each month to raise an army, to compete to become the game's all-ruling ArchLord and with it control of the entire game world impacting on the lives of thousands of players online.

Over 500,000 People Play ArchLord

Mike Fahey — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:40:00 MDT

Did ArchLord get better while I wasn't looking, or is crap really better when it's free? Either way, Codemasters Online is pleased as punch to announce that their world-domination MMORPG ArchLord has surpassed half a million player across the Western hemisphere. ArchLord went free to play in August of last year, having launched in February as a subscription-based game.

Ed Relf, Director of Marketing, Codemasters Online commented, “This is a key milestone in the growth of ArchLord. ArchLord is a premier free-to-play MMORPG offering significantly more depth and quality than most other free-to-play games and this recent achievement solidifies our commitment to the ongoing development and success of ArchLord.”

Codemasters will be opening a new game world in response to the overwhelming influx of players, to be ready in time for their Episode 3 content update later this year.

So, who among us plays ArchLord?

ArchLord Exceeds ½ Million Milestone

ArchLord, the popular subscription-free MMORPG exceeds 500k players across the West
Thursday, 22nd May – Codemasters Online is pleased to announce they have opened the doors to their 500,000th player of its popular subscription-free MMORPG, ArchLord.

Since moving to free-to-play, ArchLord has seen explosive new player growth over recent months with more players than ever taking on the challenge to compete to become the all-conquering ArchLord and with it rule the entire game world.

Ed Relf, Director of Marketing, Codemasters Online commented, “This is a key milestone in the growth of ArchLord. ArchLord is a premier free-to-play MMORPG offering significantly more depth and quality than most other free-to-play games and this recent achievement solidifies our commitment to the ongoing development and success of ArchLord.”

To cope with the increased popularity for the game, Codemasters Online will shortly be opening an all-new game world to cope with the game’s substantially increased demand as they gear up for the next free content update Episode 3 due in the coming months.

ArchLord is a premier free-to-play online role-playing game allowing players to download and play the game for free with no monthly subscriptions or commitments. The online game challenges thousands of players each month to raise an army, to compete to become the game’s all-ruling ArchLord and with it control of the entire game world impacting on the lives of thousands of ArchLord players.

To download ArchLord the premier free-to-play MMORPG visit the game’s official website www.archlordgame.com

ArchLord Goes Completely Free

Mike Fahey — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 08:40:30 MDT

When Codemasters released ArchLord in the states back in February of this year, it didn't exactly fly off the shelves. I'd daresay there are release copies still sitting on a store shelf somewhere right now, sad and lonely, never to be sold. Especially now that Codemasters has announced the game is now 100% free to play. Download the game for free, play it for free, get the new expansion for free, and possibly even hate it for free. CM Director of Marketing Ed Relf markets:

"We are ecstatic to be in a position now to release ArchLord as an entirely FREE MMORPG and this marks a milestone in the games ongoing development. Since its release, ArchLord has grown consistently and we are excited to throw open the doors to players across N.America and Europe looking to play a premium 100% FREE MMORPG. "

Nice marketing Ed. ArchLord has just recently launched the ArchLord Suit of Armour Battle, where the first player to be crowned ArchLord wins a life-sized suit of plate armor, which they probably just had laying around and had to get rid of anyway. Still, free MMO!

Play ArchLord For Free [Official Game Website]

Codemasters Online Announce Huge MMORPG Free Game Giveaway!
Codemasters Online announces ArchLord free game giveaway across Europe & N.America

Thursday 16th August - Codemasters Online is pleased to announce that ArchLord is now completely free-to-play with the full game now available for FREE download with no monthly subscription and an all new FREE expansion, Episode 2: Season of Siege. This epic fantasy is one of the few premium MMORPG's that offers a 100% fee free gaming experience.

It's time to raise an army and compete to rule the world as players from around the globe rise from pretender to contender and fight to become the games first all-ruling, all-conquering ArchLord. The first ArchLord will not only rule the world for a month, but they will control the lives of thousands of players and also win a full suit of real ArchLord armour* designed and developed exclusively by Codemasters Online.

Ed Relf, Director of Marketing, Codemasters Online commented "We are ecstatic to be in a position now to release ArchLord as an entirely FREE MMORPG and this marks a milestone in the games ongoing development. Since its release, ArchLord has grown consistently and we are excited to throw open the doors to players across N.America and Europe looking to play a premium 100% FREE MMORPG. Players are now only a download away from entering one of the most rich and rewarding PvP experiences in MMO gaming!"

To download ArchLord for FREE and take part in the race to become the games first ArchLord* visit www.archlordgame.com

Codemasters Sets Archlord Free

Mike Fahey — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 15:40:40 MST

Codemasters' announced today that their MMoRPG, Archlord, will be free to play starting January 4th, with monthly fees done away with in favor of some yet to be announced alternative income streams, such as items shops that take real-world money for in-game goods. I expect to see this sort of pay model pop up more and more, as developers scramble to try and snatch at the scraps dropped from the lumbering World of Warcraft juggernaut.

I wasn't surprised in the least upon receiving this email. I played in the Archlord beta myself and the best thing I can say about the game is some of the character models are pretty nice. Other than that it has a very Korean cookie-cutter MMo feel to it, with little personality at all. Being a character variety whore, the "choose from three races" selling point is completely lost on me. Still, perhaps I'll be tempted to poke about a little more now that I know it won't cost me anything past the initial $30 for the box. Michael Fahey

ArchLord Free To Play [Codemasters - Thanks for reminding me Kenny!]

Upcoming MMO Will Let Players Rule

lsmith — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 16:29:12 MST

Wow. And for a change, talking about MMOs, that "Wow" has nothing to do with a certain game by Blizzard. 1UP has a snippet up about a Korean MMO called Archlord, which each month elevates a different player to the title of "Archlord" and grants them "supreme global Archlord powers." Now, as clunky as that sounds, there's no details on what exactly that entails, but players ruling and governing in MMOs is something the genre needs to see more of.

Dear Blizzard...

Rule the MMO World [1UP]