Korean MMO ArcheAge announced that it would be shutting down the game's European and North American servers due to a declining player count.
The decision, which comes a decade after the game's release, comes as a tragic development for fans in the affected regions. The termination of service announcement noted that the developers concluded that they would no longer be able to provide the MMORPG that they envisioned.
ArcheAge To Shut Down European and NA Servers
(Photo : XLGames / Screenshot taken from official website)
It was said that the declining number of active players meant that the MMO game's content would no longer be accessible in the way that it used to be. The European and North American servers are scheduled to be completely shut down at 9:00 a.m. BST on June 27, 2024.
Furthermore, customer support for European and North American players will remain active until Sept. 27, 2024. After the affected servers are closed down, player information will be subsequently deleted.
The servers in other regions are said to remain online but a FAQ under the latest announcement says that the operators of the games in those regions have "implemented IP blocks." This makes it impossible to transfer accounts between regions, according to Rock Paper Shotgun.
Jake Song directed ArcheAge under his studio XLGames and he previously led the design of classic MMORPG Lineage. The Korean MMO was originally operated in western regions by studio Trion Worlds until the efforts were taken over by XLGames parent company Kakao.
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In 2020, XLGames announced the development work on ArcheAge 2 but the company has recently focused its efforts more on ArcheWorld, which is an NFT-powered mobile MMO. The announcement to shut down the European and North American servers comes as player population has been a long-time issue.
The issue prompted talks about a potential merger with ArcheAge: Unchained, which the community generally approved of. The efforts then went through in late 2023 and a roadmap included cross-server options and the highly anticipated fairy race that is coming out this year.
A Declining Player Count
It was the hope that the change would result in more concentrations of active players in the game that would enable the major features such as faction conflict. But ultimately, it was not enough to save the European and North American servers of the game, said MMORPG.
The situation comes as over the years, the ArcheAge player count has been dropping, and following a peak of about 6,500 on Steam in 2014, it tailed off significantly. Since the middle of 2020, the concurrent player count has been recorded at a little over 100, which is neither sustainable nor fun for an MMO.
For the players who will be affected by the server shutdowns, the plan is to go out in style. The developer has halted the sale of credit but has maintained the in-game marketplace until the end of the servers.
Players who have remaining Patron time and Tactful Life buff time will have it exchanged for credits automatically so that they are able to do something with it. XLGames also plans "equipment giveaway" and "progress support" events, according to PCGamer.
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