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GamersFirst acquires 9Dragons from Acclaim
Acclaim currently holds the license to publish free-to-play MMO 9Dragons, but that will be changing very soon. The license expires in September, and GamersFirst has stepped in to pick it up. The core game will remain familiar to players, but GamersFirst will be adding some new features and content for players of all levels. There will be a dedicated tutorial map for new players, a new high-level dungeon, new Kung Fu patterns, and more for players to explore on both the PvE and PvP sides. GamersFirst is working to make the transition a smooth one, and current players will find all of their characters and items unaffected by the change. The GamersFirst site will have a launch date for this move very soon. For now, follow along after the jump for a look at two brand-new trailers for 9Dragons.
Social gaming company Playdom acquires Metaplace Inc.
It seems as though Playdom has added Metaplace Inc. as a Facebook friend. While earlier this year Metaplace closed up shop, Ralph Koster dangled a morsel of hope for fans by saying that "Metaplace Inc. isn't about to go away. In fact, we have some pretty exciting plans to announce in the not too distant future." Consider that "not too distant future" a present reality, as Metaplace Inc. has been purchased by social gaming company Playdom. The deal includes the transfer of the Metaplace Inc. game design group over to Playdom's domain. Metaplace Inc. was focusing on two Facebook games, Island Life and My Vineyard, prior to its closing. Both games boast an impressive number of players: Island Life with 457,000 monthly users and My Vineyard with 822,000. Playdom is especially excited to get their hands on Metaplace's technology. "We think the Metaplace engine is a competitive advantage in that it will take other companies years to duplicate its capabilities which will streamline and quicken our game development cycles," said David Sobeski, Playdom's CTO. Metaplace Inc.'s purchase is the latest in a string of studio acquisitions for Playdom, including Acclaim Games in May. Metaplace's technology, team and games represent a significant step forward for Playdom, and we're interested to see how the social gaming firm handles its new toys in the future.
Playdom acquires Acclaim Games
If there was any doubt that the world of Facebook social games and traditional MMOs are becoming further intertwined, this should hopefully silence it. Playdom, well-known as one of the three major powers in Facebook gaming (alongside Zynga and Playfish), has acquired Acclaim Games, owner of several free-to-play MMOs including Chronicles of Spellborn, 9Dragons, and 2Moons. Unfortunately for the business mavens in the audience, the exact details of the acquisition including price were not disclosed. In terms of management, there's going to be little changing on the ground for Acclaim Games, as previous CEO Howard Marks will continue to run the studio for Playdom. Playdom itself has been purchasing several smaller developers and studios, especially those focusing on Facebook development. No word on whether this will affect management of any of Acclaim's existing games, although it seems unlikely given the circumstances. What is certain is that it's another installment in the distance between social gaming and MMOs being shortened. [ Thanks to Animagnum for the tip! ]
Acclaim CEO says Spellborn version 2.0 is on the way
If you're a fan of The Chronicles of Spellborn, Beau Turkey at Spouse Aggro found something today that will make you very happy. There have been rumors floating around lately about a restructuring of the game, and those rumors were recently confirmed on the official forums by Howard Marks, the CEO of Acclaim Games: "The rumors are true! Spellborn Version Two is on the way." Marks went on to explain that the new version has already been released in Japan to great success. They've been fine tuning it, and plans for the English version are underway. If you are a current player of The Chronicles of Spellborn, be sure you have a valid email address on file with Acclaim, because everyone playing the current version will be invited to beta test the new version via email. While details are minimal at this point, it's great news for players to know that more is on the way. You can take a look at the forum announcement here, and Beau's take from a fan point of view here.
One Shots: High House Silver
With the recent news that The Chronicles of Spellborn is going to be going from a Freemium to a fully free-to-play game, emotions are torn. Those who have been subscribing feel like they're about to lose the game they've been enjoying. Those who have wanted to try it out but have been unable to do more than the first several levels are glad as it will give them a chance to play more. Either way you slice it though, it means change for the Spellborn community. With that said, we have a lovely screenshot from within The Chronicles of Spellborn that was sent to us by Terrivad of the Deiquonril server. He writes in: This is a screen shot of the interior of High House Silver in the city of Hawksmouth. House Silver being one of the five High Houses of the Enclave. They keep the economy in order and the day to day activities such as transportation, taxing and trade. (They're also obviously the richest House.)One Shots runs on reader submissions, so we need to hear from you! Just snap a quick screenshot from your favorite MMO and send it to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name and the game/location it was taken in. We'll do the rest from there and give you the credit for sending it in.%Gallery-9798%
The Chronicles of Spellborn to be re-developed as free to play, bankruptcy issues loom
The Chronicles of Spellborn only launched a few months ago, but they've already announced that they're going to "re-develop" the game as a free-to-play title. Acclaim Games stated on Monday: "The development is planned to carry into 2010 and will include several enhancements and changes to the current game. The enhancements and development of the new model will be carried through a joint venture between Spellborn NV and the development studio of Frogster Asia Co. Ltd based in Seoul, the Korean studio bringing its expertise in the field of free-to-play and micro-transactions." Once this re-development is complete The Chronicles of Spellborn will cease to be a subscription game and will switch over to the free-to-play model. We're not sure if there will be any further development on TCOS as it exists now, but a post on the game's EU forums by community manager Kelas stated, "For now, the servers and system (subscription) will remain the way it is. There are still people available for running the daily work and systems."
One Shots: From the front lines
We don't often get to look in on The Chronicles of Spellborn, so it's great to get a report back from a Spellborn player for One Shots. Today's beautiful-yet-almost-psychadelic screenshot comes in to us from Eric who writes in: Looking down at the docks as I venture, for the first time, to The Vaults. The first thing that drew me into the The Chronicles of Spellborn was the atmospheric scenery. The area I'm traveling to is used to further the lore of the game, and the long trek up to the top of the mountain really gave me a perspective much like a pilgrim. Really well done! If your MMO travels have taken you to a world we don't often see, why not send in some screenshots and share your journeys! Email them to oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a brief description. We'll post them here and give you the credit. %Gallery-9798%
Chronicles of Spellborn raises the free to play level cap
Worst part of freemium games is really getting into the game and then running head long into the free area's level cap. You just got started, just got into getting a nice pace, and you suddenly can't go any further until you buy a new zone or pay for a subscription.Chronicles of Spellborn seems to understand that problem and have taken a step to delay the inevitable. With the last patch, "Paragraph of Timed Strike," they've raised the free to play level cap from 7.6 to 9.9. This is going to allow new players or former free to play users the ability to level further and access more quests in the starting areas of Hawksmouth and Aldenvault.Of course at level 9.9 you're still going to need a subscription if you want to continue on with Spellborn, but hey, now you have 2.3 more levels to enjoy before you need to grab some Acclaim coins.
Spellborn's American launch pushed back, closed beta starts the 27th
So we heard a couple months ago that The Chronicles of Spellborn would be released in North America and the United Kingdom on November 27th, coinciding with the continental European launch. Turns out it's been pushed back -- kinda. The European launch will still commence on the 27th, but the North American closed beta will begin on that day, with the actual, final launch occurring sometime in January.Sure, we're a bit disappointed, but chances are we'll still get to play the game soon. Acclaim, the game's publisher in the region, went out of its way in the press release it sent us to stress the "Freemium" business model -- a newbie trial area will be available to all players, who can reach level seven before they have to upgrade to a premium subscription at the usual $15/month rate. The idea of an unlimited free trial area with a level cap isn't fresh -- both Meridian 59 and EverQuest II have done that, but it's not a bad way to sample a game to decide if you want to invest your hard-earned cash in it. Might be worth trying just for Jesper Kyd's soundtrack
The Chronicles of Spellborn: Not free to play, proclaims Acclaim
In fact, the PR Manager for The Chronicles of Spellborn is quite insistent on the that point. 'TCoS is NOT a Free2Play game,' says PR manager, Mirage. And then again, only in ALL CAPS. Mirage is correct, of course. The Chronicles of Spellborn basically has a starting zone that you can play in for free. Think of it as a free trial, if you like. If you want to play the rest of this MMOG, you'll need to upgrade your free account for the regular subscription kind. 'Second, there are NO item malls, there is NO item selling,' adds Mirage. By the time we got halfway through we had to fan the air a little, as the stench of those nasty free-to-play models had pervaded the corners of the room. We hear that a box of sodium bicarbonate left open behind the sofa will eliminate those nasty odors.
The Chronicles of Spellborn launches November 27th in North America
Publisher Acclaim Games has finally announced the North American release date of developer Spellborn International's action-oriented MMORPG The Chronicles of Spellborn. The game will go live in the United States and Canada on the 27th of November -- exactly the same day as the European release. Why Acclaim and European publisher Frogster didn't announce for all regions at once, we're not quite sure!In the press release we received, Acclaim promised that a North American closed beta will begin soon, and directed would-be players to sign up at the official site. Expect fairly standard MMO gameplay, except for combat, which is a little different. You'll actually have to aim your attacks like you would in a third person shooter game.Spellborn runs on "Unreal Engine 2.5" and features music by respected video game composer Jesper Kyd, who has contributed scoring to games like Assassin's Creed, Gears of War, and Unreal Tournament 3.
Acclaim to publish The Chronicles of Spellborn in North America
Action-oriented MMORPG The Chronicles of Spellborn has found a publisher in Acclaim Games, the MMO-focused reincarnation of now-defunct Acclaim Entertainment. The company was founded by former Activision CEO Howard Marks, who bought the brand name from the original Acclaim after it crashed and burned in 2004.David Perry -- Chief Creative Officer of Acclaim Games -- published a letter to the Spellborn community announcing the deal. In it, he talks up the game and the dev team behind it, saying that they immediately stood out to him and the other folks at Acclaim. We'll assume that Acclaim was the company that wrote the letter of intent way back in April, but who can say for sure?Spellborn had already landed a publishing deal for Europe and Asia with Frogster Interactive. Last we heard the game was due out by the end of 2008, but we're not super-confident about it. Spellborn is still in its closed beta testing phase at the moment.
2Moons players to see Bad Moons Rising
2Moons, the action MMO from Acclaim Games, has released their newest game update, called Bad Moons Rising, which features new content spread out across all activities and objects. These include new dungeons, quests, and 2 new maps, Space of Pilgrimage and Aquirai Ruins. A new pet system has been incorporated, allowing players the choice between 3 new pets, with more to come in future updates.Additionally, new players will find more engaging early-level content, while there are also all-new skills, weapons, and armor sets to utilize in the pursuit of combat excellence. David Perry, founder of Shiny Entertainment, promises new updates every 3 - 4 months, with the next 2 major updates 'already on the way'. Finally, there are a slew of great events centered on the update beginning on the 4th of April and continuing until the 11th. For more details, check out the site. Creedence Clearwater Revival notwithstanding, you will want to come 'round tonight!
Acclaim Games commands you to DANCE! Online
From the unflinchingly direct marketing department that brought you the likes of Shoot Monsters in the Face!, Leap Over Bottomless Pits! and Level Grind For Eighteen Hours!, comes a new title from Acclaim Games -- the aptly named DANCE! Online. Combining rhythmic extermination of arrows with unnecessary public gyration, DANCE! Online cashes in on what George White of Warner Music Group calls "a growing phenomenon." The game is offered to you for the not entirely unreasonable price of zero dollars, though additional "song packs" (uh oh) and snazzy outfits for your avatar will require some monetary expense on your part.Also notable is the fact that the game features master recordings from the aforementioned Warner Music Group, giving DANCE! Online the distinction of being the first free massively multiplayer dancing game to provide licensed tracks. The undoubtedly crowded race to that particular finish line was aided by game director, Earthworm Jim wrangler and industry superstar designer (it says here), David Perry. "DANCE! Online has started the music based game revolution which has captured the minds of hundreds of millions of players in Asia," he says. Alright then.The beta is open now, if you're so inclined.[Via press release]
New Acclaim forges on with MMO betas
The "new" Acclaim continues with its roll-out of free MMOs, opening closed betas for 2Moons and Dance! Online. Entry into the betas is by invitation only, but registrants of the game's official websites (2Moons here, Dance there) can expect to receive a request on a first-come, first-served basis. Both titles are being directed by David Perry (Earthworm Jim, Enter the Matrix); neither has received an ESRB rating, but Acclaim warns that 2Moons was designed for the 17+ crowd. As for Dance, well, just look at that picture... The backstory: Acclaim reopens, focuses on MMOGs
