Development History

0:07 ArcheAge Chronicles is developed by XL Games, the South Korean studio behind the original ArcheAge, and began life as ArcheAge 2: in this Kakao Games interview of Nov 18, 2022, XL Games' founder Jake Song (speaking Korean) calls it a seamless open-world action MMORPG for PC and consoles, with action combat as the team's first priority. Since then the game has been renamed (Sep 24, 2024), lost its founder (early 2025), changed publisher from Kakao Games to XL Games itself (announced Sep 15, 2026), and slipped from a planned 2024 release to Early Access on Steam "later this year", meaning 2026 (Kakao Games has said Q4 2026). No Early Access date has been announced, as of Oct 20, 2026. What the game is today is on ArcheAge Chronicles; the studio is on XL Games.

Quick facts

ArcheAge 2 (2020 to 2022)

ArcheAge 2 was made official in September 2020: Byline Network reported on Sep 10, 2020 a PC MMORPG on Unreal Engine 5 led by Jake Song, then XL Games' CEO, with Kakao Games to publish it. Kakao Games had bought a controlling stake in XL Games that February. In May 2021, Kakao Games listed the game for 2024 at the earliest (Massively OP).

Kakao Games showed ArcheAge 2 for the first time at its G-Star 2022 booth in Busan on Nov 17, 2022, with Jake Song and producer Yongjin Ham on stage, for PC and consoles and aiming for 2024 (Bizwatch). Its 90-second "First Official Trailer" said the game was "powered by Unreal Engine 5 and will be coming to PC and consoles"; IGN's upload of the same teaser called it "the upcoming MMORPG sequel from Jake Song". Every trailer since is on Trailers.

1:28 Jake Song's 2022 interview already set out the story idea that survived the rename. ArcheAge 2 would share ArcheAge's world but not its story, and would focus on personal adventures rather than one grand epic. It is set around the time Auroria was first discovered and people began to settle it, "like the Wild West", on a continent where an ancient civilization once lived and nature has grown back over thousands of years. The same interview promised trade alone, by team and by raid, and more housing customization with guild housing towns. The world is described on Auroria and Story.

Delays (2021 to 2026)

The release slipped again and again, almost always announced on Kakao Games' investor calls. The windows, as reported at the time:

On the Feb 11, 2026 call, Kakao Games' CEO Han Sang-woo said schedules had been rearranged to put completeness first (Inven); on the August call, co-CEO Lee Si-woo called the Q4 2026 schedule "locked in" (Massively OP). XL Games itself has never written "Q4". The current state is on Release Date and Early Access.

The rename: ArcheAge Chronicles (2024)

0:01 ArcheAge 2 became ArcheAge Chronicles at Sony's State of Play on Sep 24, 2024, with a trailer for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC and a 2025 window. The trailer opens on a voice asking how it felt "to learn the truth about the night sky tragedy", then tells the hero that humans once "slaughtered each other until the whole world lay in ruins" and have been granted "another chance in Auroria". The same day, Executive Producer Yongjin Ham wrote on Steam: "In lieu of a direct sequel, we've prepared a fresh take on the ArcheAge universe by shifting away from large-scale competitive battles to smaller group activities." The joint release named Kakao Games as publisher and XL Games as developer.

1:35 XL Games explained the new name in its "Developer Diary - Our Vision" of Oct 10, 2024 (Korean speech with English subtitles). A developer says the game is not simply a sequel to the earlier one: the point was to reinvent ArcheAge for a new era, and "Chronicles" fit that direction. The written diary the same day says the title reflects telling "untapped stories from different perspectives in the same era", set "roughly 50 years after the events of the original". In July 2025 Ham went further: "this isn't ArcheAge 2. It's not a traditional MMORPG." How far it moved from the original is on Differences From ArcheAge.

0:00 The same diary opens behind the scenes, on the hardest technical problem. A developer says that building action combat for an MMO server runs into network and physical limits, and that solving them could produce something truly great. Later in the video the team says it worked on hit detection and enemy AI so the combat could match a single-player action game; how it plays now is on Combat. The 2024 diary also promised "twenty-player raids" and "the Crimson Rift", neither of which XL Games has mentioned since.

Jake Song leaves (2023 to 2025)

Jake Song, who founded XL Games in 2006, stepped down as co-CEO on Jul 31, 2023 and stayed on to work on ArcheAge 2, according to Asia Business Daily (Sep 12, 2023); the 2024 press release still called him CEO. He left XL Games in early 2025 "to recharge" (Massively OP, Mar 1, 2025, citing Bizwatch). XL Games told Massively OP in August 2025: "While Jake is no longer directly involved with the development, ArcheAge Chronicles isn't being led by just one individual." He does not lead ArcheAge Chronicles. The game is led by Executive Producer Yongjin Ham, with Creative Director and Lead Game Designer Jay Lee.

Quiet years and the 2026 tests

After the 2024 reveal, XL Games showed little. Ham's "Pioneering a New Era" letter of Jul 31, 2025 said small focus groups under NDA had played early builds, and called the game "a discovery-driven online action RPG". In February 2025 the official X account posted images of locations, weapons and creatures (Massively OP).

Testing grew through 2026:

• Early April 2026: an internal playtest; XL Games posted on Apr 7 that the game was still coming together (Massively OP, Apr 8, 2026).
• May 28, 2026: the official Discord opened.
• June 2026: a Focus Group Test under NDA, with 165 testers who played 2,006 hours in total (XL Games on X, Jul 3, 2026).
• July to September 2026: class reveals (Warrior Jul 10, Ranger Jul 31, Mage Sep 17, Berserker Sep 28) and a housing video.
• Sep 4, 2026: two PvP clips and a Trade Run clip on YouTube.
• Sep 12, 2026: the Network Test, about six hours for Steam players in the US and Canada.

2:46 XL Games opened Network Test sign-ups with "A Quick Look at Auroria" on Sep 7, 2026, a three-minute tour of captured play narrated by the developers. It ends with a party boss fight and the words "that's ArcheAge Chronicles, at least where we are with it right now", over an end card inviting players to the Network Test. In his letter of Sep 15, Ham said more players connected than planned, the servers held, and the average session was "about an hour and thirty minutes"; players reported black screens, a missing party interface, griefing and gender-locked classes. The full story of the test is on Demo, and the class gender question on Character Creation and Gender Lock.

The ArcheAge IP sale (2026)

On Sep 8, 2026, XL Games disclosed that it is selling the ArcheAge IP and its ArcheAge S project to Align Studio, a Kakao Games-funded company led by Kim Kyung-tae, for about 39.2 billion won, with the transfer dated Oct 27, 2026 (Inven, Sep 9, 2026). The ArcheAge Chronicles development project stays with XL Games. Inven noted that the ArcheAge Chronicles trademark is on the list of transferred items and that how XL Games will use the IP for Chronicles was not disclosed. Massively OP, citing a translation of the corrected filing, reported that XL Games keeps Chronicles, its team and its publishing. The sale came during hard times for the studio: XL Games lost 24.2 billion won in 2025, and its staff fell from 449 to 342 between the end of 2025 and June 2026 (iNews24). What the transfer means for the game's name has not been announced, as of Oct 20, 2026. The other ArcheAge games are on ArcheAge Series.

Self-publishing (2026)

0:10 XL Games now publishes ArcheAge Chronicles itself. Ham wrote on Sep 15, 2026 that "XLGames will be self-publishing ArcheAge Chronicles directly", calling it "a deliberate decision" that gives the studio "a direct relationship with our Western players". In XL Games' video of Oct 7, 2026, he introduces himself as executive producer and repeats the news in Korean, with burned-in English subtitles: "We'll also be communicating with you more often, sharing updates on the development process and the decisions we're making along the way." On Sep 18, 2026, Global Project Manager Don introduced himself as the team's direct line to Western players. Korean press dates the switch to mid-2026: MTN still named Kakao Games as publisher on May 20, 2026, and reported on Sep 8 that Kakao Games had ended its distribution contract. The PlayStation, Xbox and Epic store pages still list Kakao Games Corp., as of Oct 20, 2026.

Steam Next Fest demo (2026)

0:30 The first build anyone could play is the free Steam Next Fest demo, Oct 19, 10:00 AM to Oct 26, 10:00 AM PDT, 2026. XL Games' demo trailer of Oct 19 shows a dark-haired man glaring over a burning house ("Begging would've been wiser") before an end card reading "Play demo now, Oct. 19-26 @ 10 AM Pacific". The demo holds about two to three hours of quests around Diamond Shores, all four classes with two weapons each, PvP for the first time and the hidden dungeon Throne of Hinnon. XL Games announced it reached No. 1 on Next Fest's Top Demos chart on opening day; SteamDB, read on Oct 20, 2026, shows an all-time peak of 20,507 players at once. The details are on Demo and the numbers on Steam Player Count.

What comes next

XL Games plans Early Access on Steam for later in 2026 (Kakao Games has said Q4 2026). Its Steam FAQ says Early Access will last "approximately 9 to 12 months" with three regions (Diamond Shores, Gylden Ruins, Astron Plains), four classes with two weapons each, and later more regions, a third weapon for each class and more gender options. Don promised the date and "box price" "as soon as we're ready". Not announced, as of Oct 20, 2026: an Early Access date, a price, a full release date, and any date for the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions announced in 2024. Platforms are on Platforms and Crossplay and the price on Price and Pay to Win.

Frequently asked questions

Who is making ArcheAge Chronicles? ArcheAge Chronicles is developed by XL Games, the South Korean studio that made the original ArcheAge, led by Executive Producer Yongjin Ham and Creative Director Jay Lee. XL Games also publishes it, since 2026.

Was ArcheAge Chronicles delayed? Yes. ArcheAge Chronicles, first aimed at 2024 as ArcheAge 2, missed windows in 2024, 2025 and the first half of 2026; Early Access on Steam is now planned for later in 2026, with no date announced as of Oct 20, 2026.

What happened to ArcheAge 2? ArcheAge 2 was renamed ArcheAge Chronicles at Sony's State of Play on Sep 24, 2024. XL Games says ArcheAge Chronicles is not ArcheAge 2, not a direct sequel and not a reboot, but a new game set 50 years after the original.

Is Jake Song working on ArcheAge Chronicles? No. Jake Song, XL Games' founder, presented ArcheAge 2 in 2022 but left XL Games in early 2025; XL Games said ArcheAge Chronicles "isn't being led by just one individual".

Who publishes ArcheAge Chronicles? XL Games self-publishes ArcheAge Chronicles, as Executive Producer Yongjin Ham announced on Sep 15, 2026. Kakao Games was the publisher before, and its name still appears on the console and Epic store pages.

What engine does ArcheAge Chronicles use? ArcheAge Chronicles is made in Unreal Engine 5, as Kakao Games' 2022 teaser and XL Games' 2024 State of Play trailer both say.

Did Align Studio buy ArcheAge Chronicles? No. Align Studio is buying the ArcheAge IP and the ArcheAge S project from XL Games (transfer dated Oct 27, 2026), while the ArcheAge Chronicles project stays with XL Games; what that means for the Chronicles name had not been disclosed as of Oct 20, 2026.

Sources

• A letter from the Executive Producer, XL Games on Steam, Sep 24, 2024
• Developer Diary - Our Vision, XL Games on Steam, Oct 10, 2024
• Producer's Letter - Pioneering a New Era, XL Games on Steam, Jul 31, 2025
• Official ArcheAge Chronicles Discord Now Open, XL Games on Steam, May 28, 2026
• Network Test Announcement, XL Games on Steam, Sep 3, 2026
• A Letter from Producer Ham: Network Test & Publishing Update, XL Games on Steam, Sep 15, 2026
• Introducing Don, XL Games on Steam, Sep 18, 2026
• A Letter from Producer Ham: Steam Next Fest Demo Details, XL Games on Steam, Oct 18, 2026
• Steam Next Fest Demo Is Now Live!, XL Games on Steam, Oct 19, 2026
• ArcheAge Chronicles on Steam (Early Access FAQ), XL Games on Steam, read Oct 20, 2026
• ArcheAge Chronicles: New gameplay details on the online PS5 action RPG coming 2025, PlayStation Blog, Sep 24, 2024
• XLGAMES and Kakao Games Unveil ArcheAge Chronicles at Sony State of Play, XL Games and Kakao Games via Games Press, Sep 24, 2024
• ArcheAge 2 announcement, Byline Network, Sep 10, 2020
• ArcheAge 2 at G-Star 2022, Bizwatch, Nov 17, 2022
• Jake Song steps down as co-CEO, Asia Business Daily, Sep 12, 2023
• Kakao Q1 2021: ArcheAge 2 won't be ready until at least 2024, Massively OP, May 5, 2021
• Kakao Games Q2 2023: ArcheAge 2 targets second half of 2024, Massively OP, Aug 3, 2023
• Kakao Q1 2024: ArcheAge 2 and Chrono Odyssey back on track for 2025, Massively OP, May 8, 2024
• Kakao Games Q3 2024 call, Gamemeca, Nov 6, 2024
• ArcheAge Chronicles luminary Jake Song leaves XLGames to recharge, Massively OP, Mar 1, 2025
• The long-delayed ArcheAge Chronicles previews locations, weapons and creatures, Massively OP, Feb 10, 2025
• Interview: ArcheAge Chronicles' XLGames on housing, PvP, launch and its MMO nature, Massively OP, Aug 1, 2025
• Kakao Q2 2025: Chrono Odyssey and ArcheAge Chronicles delayed again, Massively OP, Aug 6, 2025
• Kakao Games Q4 2025 call, Inven, Feb 11, 2026
• XLGames reassures fans that ArcheAge Chronicles is still happening, Massively OP, Apr 8, 2026
• ArcheAge Chronicles shares player activity from a June focus group test, Massively OP, Jul 3, 2026
• Kakao Q2 2026: ArcheAge Chronicles will enter Early Access this year, Massively OP, Aug 11, 2026
• XL Games' ArcheAge IP transfer, Inven, Sep 9, 2026
• XL Games sells off most of the ArcheAge property to Kakao Games-owned entity, Massively OP, Sep 11, 2026
• XL Games' ArcheAge IP sale, MTN, Sep 8, 2026
• XL Games and Kakao Games' publishing agreement, MTN, May 20, 2026
• ArcheAge Chronicles demo and XL Games' results, iNews24, Oct 20, 2026
• ArcheAge Chronicles Tops Next Fest Demo Charts, Inven Global, Oct 19, 2026
• ArcheAge Chronicles Demo charts, SteamDB, read Oct 20, 2026
• ArcheAge 2 | XLGAMES Executive Producer (Jake Song) Interview, playkakaogames, Nov 18, 2022 (video)
• ArcheAge 2 | First Official Trailer, playkakaogames, Nov 18, 2022 (video)
• ArcheAge 2: First Teaser, IGN, Nov 17, 2022 (video)
• State of Play Trailer, ArcheAge Chronicles, Sep 24, 2024 (video)
• Developer Diary - Our Vision, ArcheAge Chronicles, Oct 10, 2024 (video)
• ArcheAge Chronicles: A Quick Look at Auroria, ArcheAge Chronicles, Sep 7, 2026 (video)
• The Direction the Devs Are Taking, ArcheAge Chronicles, Oct 7, 2026 (video)
• Official Demo Trailer, ArcheAge Chronicles, Oct 19, 2026 (video)