Everything Known About Archeage 2

The storyline will involve discovering and solving mysteries of an ancient civilization that have been forgotten for thousands of years leaving it to blend with the natural environment(source)

The story will be delivered differently from AA1, AA2 story is more about personal adventures, and AA1 was more about a narrative storyline(source)

Jake Song is considering separating the leveling and story so players can experience the story separately. (source)

Initial Announcement and Launch Date

Initial Announcement: 2020, was said to be in the “prototyping” stage at that time with 40-50 people on the team. (source)

Launch Date: Late 2024 at the earliest(source)

They are going for a shorter launch window than AA1 because of a smaller scope. (source)

More info in 2024

More information at the “Gameshow” next year(Not sure what game show they are referencing, possibly G-Star which is in Korea, usually in November)(source)

Smaller Scope than Archeage 1

They are going for a shorter time to launch than Archeage 1 because they are going to have a smaller scope. (AA1 took 7 years to develop) (source)

Jake Song says that during the development of Archeage, they were “greedy” with the design by trying to do too much (source)
They don’t want countless and quantitative features instead, they want density and completeness in the features. (source)
But they still want the game to have the features that Archeage 1 players loved (source)
They want to have more “connectivity” between game elements, elements like trade and housing are well linked.(source)

Funding and Staffing

The game is very well funded with a big investment from Kakao Games, so there is no financial stress or rush to get the game out (source)

They had 40-50 employees in 2020 and now they have over 100 developers(source)

Archeage 1 features that are returning, and improvements made to these systems

Housing(source)
- They want to allow players to build entire towns, and more building customization(source)
- They are working on ways to reduce the housing shortage from AA1(source)
Sea Warfare(source)
Cars and Ships with Physics(source)
Trade Packs
- They want to “enhance” the trade pack system. Allow players to do trade runs alone, in teams, or in raids.(source)
- Trade system is “central content that leads to war”, instead of giving or receiving money piecemeal.(source)

Races

Several races that never made it into AA1 but were in the concept art are said to be making it into AA2(source)
Humans and Elves were seen in the trailer(source)

Classes

Multiple different potential classes were seen in the trailer(source)

Player Made Towns

Players will be able to build towns. It is not known if all towns will be player-built. (source)

Guild Level Trade

No details of this, but this is something they have talked about. (source)

ANNOUNCEMENT, INTERVIEWS, VIDEOS

Official Videos

AA2 First Teaser

Starts with Naval
Then Mountains
Caravans???
0:42 Action/Lightning Boss
Dodging, Sword and Shield, different potential classes and races

AA2: Jake Song Interview

Sequel to AA1
Seamless OW action
PC and Console
Important features?
- Primary focus is action packed combat and immersive storyline
- AAA visuals with UE5
- Non linear progression based seamless OW experience
Changes to lore or story?
- Same lore, but storyline progression is not the same
  - AA1 is narrative storyline, AA2 is more about personal adventures and personal stories
  - Similar timeline to AA1
  - Portrays a period when Auroria was first discovered and people are starting to settle there
  - The storyline will involve discovering and solving mysteries of an ancient civilization that have been forgotten for thousands of years leaving it to blend with the natural environment
Features you want to introduce?
- Trade Runs were enjoyed, but the system had some flaws
  - In AA2 they want to enhance the trade system
  - Allow players to do trade runs alone, in teams, or in raids
- Housing
  - We plan to improve it by adding more customizations, allowing players to live in towns with their friends, and even creating their own toms with guild members

BBS

Initial Announcement https://bbs.ruliweb.com/news/read/141347

Connects Lineage and WOW

Interview 2(G-Star) https://bbs.ruliweb.com/news/read/144370

Races that didn’t make into AA1 in AA2
More connectivity between game elements, focus more on core elements, so elements like trade and housing are well linked
Jeon Min-hee is doing the story
CEO Song Jae-kyung said that he was thinking of a story that was separate from leveling up
She spoke passionately about a methodology that allows players to follow and play the story they want, when they want, rather than telling the story around quests, by organizing adventure or leveling up and story progression separately.
First, ArcheAge 2 focused on incorporating the experience of the past into the sequel, starting with inheriting and developing the previous work. It is for this reason that designing the entire social system centered on trade content is a key keyword.
While playing MMORPG, I thought that I could incorporate the experience of cooperation and competition into trade, so I decided to place the trade system as a central content that led to war, rather than giving or receiving money piecemeal. In this aspect, we plan to show a structure in which the rest of life contents operate organically.
In terms of community, the western and eastern continents. It focuses on showing the concept of development and revival in one continent, escaping from the form of confrontation and fighting between the two sides. In addition, he explained that while maintaining the direction of the housing system in the previous work, systematic planning is being applied to solve the problem of housing shortage in terms of the system.
Along with this, a system close to ‘town housing’ and trade. And added that there will be points for forces or user organizations. If producing and creating is a story about a town, the biggest point is to implement it in the game as a well-integrated form of trade and plunder, leading to an organization that systematically manages and produces it / a trading organization that sells it.
In addition, there will be changes in the story aspect as well. Regarding this, producer Ham Yong-jin said, “Directing or dubbing. There is talk of making cutscenes like consoles, but I’m worried that this won’t fit well with MMO growth play.” So, he said that he is currently contemplating whether to separate the story, and is thinking about a structure in which the story is purely consumed, rather than being forced to play during the level-up process.
XLGames, which was incorporated as a subsidiary of Kakao Games in February, is currently developing ArcheAge 2 and plans to release it to the market as a PC-based multi-platform MMORPG. A specific release date was not mentioned, but through a Kakao Games company briefing held at the end of August, XL Games’ new PC MMORPG was announced to be released in the second half of 2022. (2022 LAUNCH)?????

https://bbs.ruliweb.com/news/read/185366 (Q2 Results)

I would like you to comment on the progress and differentiation of ArcheAge 2 and the release timeline. = ArcheAge 2 is an MMORPG that aims to be released on both PC and console. The first trailer was released at G-Star and received a lot of attention from users. The goal is to complete the development in the second half of 2024. Based on Unreal 5, it is an MMORPG that shares the existing worldview, including open world, and emphasizes single play. We plan to provide a variety of lifestyle content that can be enjoyed in the open field, and we intend to improve trade to activate guild-level trade. We want to increase the number of users in contact with single-centered story development. As ArcheAge has been serviced in the meantime, it has a strong fan base in Western countries such as Russia, so it is expected to achieve results in the global market. In addition, we are concentrating on improving the level of completion by simultaneously developing PC and console. It has not been confirmed yet, but we are planning to reveal the release and game contents at the game show next year.

US Websites

MMO Culture(2020 Ruliweb Translation) https://mmoculture.com/2020/09/archeage-2-jake-song-announces-unreal-engine-5-mmorpg-sequel/

Prototype stage
40-50 on staff
Shorter time to launch than the original AA
Core principle of AA1, Freedom, will be in AA2
He was greedy when developing AA1, and tried to satisfy all types of gamers
- Jake Song admitted that during the development of ArcheAge, he was “greedy” and tried to satisfy all types of gamers. As a result, the development time took much longer than expected which snowballed over to live development as well once the game launched. hence, many processes and tasks piled up by being too ambitious.
- Not countless and q quantitative, but density and completeness
- For AA2 they want to focus on core content instead of adding features
- Still want to have the features that AA1 players liked
No financial stress because of Kakao investment
Housing, sea warfare, cars, and ships with physics
Definitely want to appease the West
Same worldview as the original AA, but different time in a parallel dimension
He noted that one of the problems with AA1 was the widening power gap between players

Everything Known About AA2 – MMORPG.GG https://mmorpg.gg/everything-we-know-about-archeage-2-release-date-unreal-engine-5-new-races-and-more/

2020 announced
Sandpark
Player Housing confirmed
Ships and Naval Warfare Confirmed
UE5
Jeon Min-Hee lore and story(same person as AA1)
Several Races that never made it in AA1 will make it in AA2
2024 launch
Jake Song lead developer
Over 100 developers

https://wccftech.com/archeage-2-to-complete-development-in-2h-2024-says-kakao/

2nd half 2024 launch
Release date and more info at game shows next year
- E3, Gamescom, G-Star
PC and Console
Greater focus on Single Player Storyline than AA1
Still several multiplayer activities including Guild-level trade

https://mmo-wiki.com/mmo-wiki-news/a-guide-to-archeage-2-and-what-we-know/

Release 2024
XL games, Kakao Publisher
Same setting as AA1 but different time period
UE5
Console and PC
2020 Archeage 2 was announced to be already in production and development
Classes, yes
- Knight Class??, Wizard or Mage Class??, Warrior Class??, Ranger Class??
Races – Humans and Elves in the trailer, might have the same races as AA1
AA2 Features
- Player run towns
- Action combat
- Improved trade pack system
Ogre, Undead, and Dragon enemies
Compelling story

JOB POSTINGS

https://mmoculture.com/2020/05/xlgames-archeage-developer-is-now-hiring-for-new-unreal-engine-4-mmorpg-project/

https://company.xlgames.com/

TEAM

Jake Song – Executive Producer

Jeon Min-hee – Story