Ham details ArcheAge Chronicles Early Access: three regions, $29.99 and no subscription

Hello, Pioneers. I’m Yongjin Ham, executive producer of ArcheAge Chronicles. I hope you enjoyed our latest development video. We’ve read all your comments and messages of support, and we appreciate them.

Today, as we prepare for Early Access, I’d like to answer some of the questions you may have.

In Early Access you will be able to explore three regions of Auroria: Diamond Shores, Gylden Ruins and Astron Plains. All three have their own stories and side quests. Depending on how you play, playtime will vary, but even if you focus only on the main quests, we have designed each region to offer more than 10 hours of gameplay. That is more than 30 hours across the three regions.

As we said in the previous video, ArcheAge Chronicles has four classes: Warrior, Ranger, Mage and Berserker. Each class can use two weapon types, and each weapon has its own combat style and mechanics, with unique combos, dodges and counterattacks. Even within the same class, the combat style can change completely depending on the weapon you choose. We hope you will try different weapons, experiment with the combat system and find the style that suits you best.

Combat is not all Auroria has to offer. You can explore new areas, challenge dungeons and raids, or test your skill against other players in PvP. You can also decorate your house, craft items, trade and take part in Company and guild activities. Instead of following a set path, we encourage you to make the adventure your own.

Now I’d like to talk about the price. Throughout development we spent a lot of time thinking about how to bring action combat and the MMO experience together in a way that feels right. That process has shaped ArcheAge Chronicles as it is today, and we are now ready to put it in your hands and hear what you think. But through all of that there was one thing we never wanted to lose: what makes an MMO special.

ArcheAge Chronicles will be buy-to-play: you buy the game once and no recurring subscription is required to keep playing. In addition, to make that first purchase accessible, we have set the Early Access price at $29.99 in the United States and 36,000 won in Korea. We hope this price makes it easier to take the first step into Auroria and begin an adventure alongside other Pioneers.

We have spent years planning and developing the game, but your experience may differ from what we originally imagined. Through Early Access we want to listen more closely to your feedback and respond more quickly. That is also why we chose Early Access.

We will continue to release updates after Early Access launches. Right now we are focusing on three main areas. First, we plan to remove gender locks, starting with certain classes. We will also introduce a third weapon for each class over time to expand your combat options. In addition, we will keep improving combat balance, character progression and quality-of-life features such as parties and channel systems. Work on these updates is already underway. The schedule may change as development progresses, but we will keep your feedback at the centre of our decisions and continue to bring meaningful improvements to the game.

Early Access is the starting point. We will continue to refine the game and add new content to enjoy, guided by your experiences and feedback. We will regularly share news about planned improvements and our development direction, along with any important announcements. Between Early Access and full launch we also plan to expand life and community content and introduce new regions and adventures. We are also preparing to share a development roadmap around the Early Access launch that shows where we plan to take the game. The more we work together, the richer and better the game will become.

And that brings us to the end of today’s announcement. We have talked about what you can expect in Early Access, how we plan to develop the game from here, and the reasoning behind our price. These are important topics, so I wanted to speak to you about them directly. I look forward to seeing how the world we have built will grow and change once you become part of it. We will keep listening to your feedback as we work together to build an even deeper and richer world.

Right now you can play the ArcheAge Chronicles demo in Steam Next Fest. We will share more details about the Early Access schedule soon. To stay up to date on Early Access, add ArcheAge Chronicles to your wishlist on Steam and join our official Discord. See you in Auroria. Thank you.

Official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8cZmAdn4kU

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3218230

X: https://x.com/ArcheAgeChron

Discord: https://discord.gg/archeagechronicles