spellborn-international posts

A fantasy MMO that was years in development is closing down its servers by the end of the month. Our sister site Games.com reports that The Chronicles of Spellborn will shut down its US servers "at the end of the month" according to a rep from the game's publisher Playdom.

Developed by the Dutch-based Spellborn Interational, the game used Unreal Engine 2 as its graphical basis. After several years in development the game launched in April 2009 with Acclaim as its US publisher. However the developer shut down in mid-2009 and Acclaim then announced the game would turn into a free-to-play MMO title. Acclaim was purchased by Playdom earlier in 2010 and then Playdom itself was acquired by Disney in late July for well over $700 million. It looks like the new owners at Disney don't want to deal with this game anymore.

Last June it was announced that the fantasy MMO The Chronicles of Spellborn would be relaunched in 2010, turning it from a monthly subscription-based game to a free-to-play MMO with micro transactions. Apparently, next year is now for the game as the official message board have posted up word that the Acclaim published title, as it stands now, is free to play right now.

There will no longer be any updates or patches to this version of the game, according to the message post, saying "It has become in effect, an Action RPG with superior Multiplayer." This doesn't change the plans to re-launch the game; the joint venture between Spellborn International and Frogstar Asia is apparently still in the works to go live next year.

Developer Spellborn International finally released their long-in-development fantasy MMO The Chronicles of Spellborn in February 2009 with Acclaim handling the US launch of the title. The game allowed players to play a portion of the game world for free but then asked them for a monthly subscription fee. This week it was revealed that The Chronicles of Spellborn will be revamped and re-launched with a free-to-play MMO model supported by micro-transactions

The revamped version will be develped in a joint venture between Spellborn International and Frogstar Asia and will include "several enhancements and changes to the current game." Current players can continue to play the game during this process but when the revamp launches (sometime in 2010) any unused subscription money will be credited in some way to player's accounts.

After years of development and delays, today is the day for the official launch of The Chronicles of Spellborn, the fantasy MMO developed by Spellborn International. Acclaim is handling the game's launch in the US and you can download the client at the game's official web site.

The MMO is doing something a little unusual in that it will allow players to enter and play part of the game for free. However after that free period ends it will ask for a $14.99 per month subscription fee. However from now until May 7 registered players will be able to play in the game's normally premium tier free for two weeks.

Download Chronicles of Spellborn Client Part 1 (486 KB)
Download Chronicles of Spellborn Client Part 2 (1.86 GB)
Download Chronicles of Spellborn Client Part 3 (1.13 GB)

The fantasy-themed MMO The Chronicles of Spellborn started closed beta in the US yesterday. Although the first batch of beta-testers is limited to 200-500 people, 1,000 new people will be admitted every twelve hours starting today (March 14th). It is unknown at this time whether or not players will retain their characters when the game moves into open beta. The final release of The Chronicles of Spellborn will include free-to-play zones, with areas and content available only to those that purchase premium subscriptions. The actual game client will remain free to download and install. Visit the official website for more information and to sign up for a beta account. System requirements and links to the EU client are shown after the jump.

Client is no longer available.

Last September Acclaim announced that it would launch the long-in-development fantasy MMO The Chronicles of Spellborn on Nov. 27. Now word comes in that yet another delay has crept into the game's schedule and that instead of launching on that day, an open beta of the game will in fact begin in both the US and Europe.

Acclaim states that the final launch of the MMO will now happen in January 2009, saying, "Extensive testing of the game will ensure players receive the highest quality gaming experience at launch." The game, developed by Spellborn International, is supposed to be a traditional MMO in that players will pay a monthly fee but it will have an intro level that will be free to play.

It looks like there was a little bit of confusion surrounding the upcoming US release of the fantasy MMO The Chronicles of Spellborn by Acclaim. While the publisher has released "free-to-play" MMO games in the past, this game (due for release on November 27) has a regular MMO business model with a monthly fee and no item selling.

So why the confusion? As explained on the game's official web site, The Chronicles of Spellborn will do something a little different. It will offer a free area for any player to start in but after that they will have to pony up the monthly fee in order to continue playing in the game world. According to the site, "Rather than offering the usual '14 days trial' or similar, we decided to go for this free2play starting zone. This will allow you more time to get a good feel on the combat system and on the questing, and in general to give a good impression on what Spellborn is all about." So there you go; not a "free-to-play" model but a "free-zone-but-pay-for-everything-else" model.

[Via Massively]

Last month we reported that free-to-play MMO publisher Acclaim will take on the publishing duties for The Chronicles of Spellborn, a European developed Unreal Engine 2 based fantasy MMO that's been in development for a while now. This week Acclaim announced that the game will officially launch on their site on November 27 (the game will also launch for its European customers on that same day).

As with all of Acclaim's previous titles, The Chronicles of Spellborn will allow players to register to play for free. However, extra content and features for the game can also be accessed for a fee. Acclaim will "offer several payment options" for this service.