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!