After announcing a change in economic model, the Citadel Studios MMORPG announces that it will be relaunching in two different versions, a Classic for fans, and another with NFTs.
The MMORPG scene is moving a lot right now, especially since it is very complicated to compete with current leaders such as Lost Ark, Final Fantasy 14 and World of Warcraft. Recently, two veterans were forced to announce the end of the servers after years of activity. This time, it is Legends of Aria which must renew itself to survive in this competitive market.
The title of Citadel Studios has especially known a takeover at the end of last year by Blue Monster. A sale that resulted in ambitions of NFT inside the game, which was very poorly received by the community. The game, released on PC in 2019 after a crowdfunding campaign, has been accused of losing part of its soul but also of forgetting that gamers allowed the title to exist.
In a blog letter from the developers, the studio apologizes and announces a “relaunch”.
We will relaunch the game with a focus on delivering the founding vision of LoA, executed alongside new development, a new playable world, new sandbox content including boats, custom player housing, improved PvP systems, prison systems, etc. We will also follow a more traditional publisher approach, spending roughly the same amount on marketing as on development. It’s important to note that we wouldn’t be here without the Kickstarter campaign and early supporters, so we’ve devised a plan to reward these folks the right way – more on that later!
An alpha was launched on May 11 and a beta will be offered in June, before a launch in July. The main novelty is the split of the game into two different versions. A first, Legends of Aria Classic, will resume the basics of the MMORPG as it existed before the takeover. A second, Legends of Ariawill be affected by this relaunch and will be closer to the vision of the new group, in particular NFT systems.
