Trion Worlds and XLGAMES have confirmed that ArcheAge will finally go into closed beta next week. Prospective players can either sign-up for a key or become a founder, albeit at a fairly hefty price.
Many who dabble in the MMO genre will have come across ArcheAge before. The free-to-play game is fairly popular in Asia and Russia with Trion Worlds now sizing up a potential western fanbase.
ArcheAge comes from Jake Song, the creator of NCsoft’s landmark MMO, Lineage. “So what?” you might be thinking, “isn’t pretty much every MMO just the same nowadays?”
Though cynics will tell you yes, ArcheAge is a game that is at least trying to innovate in one of the industry’s most overcrowded genres. Through features such as free-form sandbox gameplay, world-changing PvP, non-combat classes, and full-on naval battles, ArcheAge is doing more than ticking boxes on a shopping list. It could well be the next step forward for MMOs and you could become a part of it starting next week.
Source: Press Release