Codemasters drops ArchLord MMO

By Oli Welsh Published 2 September, 2009

Webzen to keep it going in the West.

Codemasters Online Gaming has not renewed its contract to operate free-to-play MMO ArchLord in North America and Europe. The game's not being closed, though - Korean publisher Webzen is stepping to keep the game running in the West.

According to the transition FAQ, Codemasters is shutting its ArchLord servers down on 2nd October, and Webzen will open its service the very next day, 3rd October. We'll believe that when we see it.

Character data is being passed over to the new operator, so ArchLord players won't have to start again from scratch.

ArchLord received poor reviews when it launched back in 2006, but a timely move to a free-to-play business model kept it going. The game's selling point is that it's possible for a single player to rise to total dominance over the game world. ArchLord also achieved some small notoriety by featuring in the Belgian film Ben X, about an autistic young man who retreats into its fantasy world.

The loss of ArchLord leaves Codemasters operating two MMOs in Europe only: Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online. It was also due to launch NetDevil's space combat MMO Jumpgate Evolution this year, but that game has all but disappeared from the radar since it was delayed back in May.

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (7) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • DFawkes #1 2 years ago

    That's almost a shame, I did enjoy it for a while. It was flawed, but for a free-to-play it was passable enough. I never did work out how to repair my armour without striping naked first though :p That was my fault I'm sure.

  • Darkedge #2 2 years ago

    it was piss poor and no loss to the genre - surprised webzen bothered picking it up but I suppose they need the catalogue in the west

  • Gnort #3 2 years ago

    @DFawkes

    It's not poor interface design, it's realism! You wouldn't iron your clothes while you're still wearing them, would you?

  • sneetch #4 2 years ago

    @Gnort
    It's not poor interface design, it's realism! You wouldn't iron your clothes while you're still wearing them, would you?

    Yeah, but is that type of realism either required or desired? In games when realism equates to tedious busy-work then I reckon it should be removed or streamlined.

    For example, should it take you 30 minutes to get into and out of your armour too as you hand fasten or unfasten each strap and buckle? That's realistic, but not fun though.

    Like a slow, awkward, medieval strip-tease? ;)

  • Kropotkin #5 2 years ago

    Yet another Korean MMO taken up by Codemasters only to see it fade into obscurity. They did this with RF Online if you remember and look what happened to that!

    I recall when Codemasters started touting these games as being a cash-cow godsend to them. It was at the height of the growth of WoW. What they failed to realise was as they brought these games across to Europe and the US, they didn't actually check to see if they were worth anyone's time and money. All together now: 'DOH!'

  • Starman #6 2 years ago

    With DDO going F2P under Turbine you have to wonder what will happen to the EU side considering there are currently no regional restrictions in-place at Turbines end.

  • Lycalex #7 2 years ago

    omg this webzen is real sh1t! i wish to have time back and have cm! with webzen there is no reason to play now! there is too many problems!!! bugs, lag, item problem! some people have lost their items and they just hide! and donw want to do something!
    i am really frustrated about webzen i hoped that they would be more serious than cm!