The MMORPG Kingdom Under Fire 2 has a truly insane development history filled with crises. Now, the MMORPG is set to release in Germany in 2019. That is 10 years after the originally planned release, which was intended for the Xbox 360.
What kind of franchise is this? In itself, “Kingdom under Fire” was a franchise for PC, which only gained success on the original Xbox and Xbox 360 when more action was introduced into the strategy game:
- The 1st game “Kingdom Under Fire” was released in 2001 for PC – it was a real-time strategy game.
- Then came “The Crusaders” for Xbox – here the developers added gameplay elements from Dynasty Warriors, bringing more action into the mix.
- Kingdom under Fire “Heroes” was also released for Xbox – this was then an action-strategy game.
- In 2008, finally, “Circle of Doom” was released for Xbox 360 – this was classified as an action RPG.
The franchise “Kingdom under Fire” had a good reputation and some fans in Europe. Especially “Heroes” from 2005 received strong ratings – but “Circle of Doom” fell off.
From 2009 to 2014 in “Developer Hell”
What about part 2? The development history of Kingdom under Fire 2 is confusing, full of stumbling blocks, announcements that never came true, and problems.
The game was supposed to be a mix of real-time strategy, role-playing, and MMO – a kind of “real-time strategy MMORPG.” The game was produced with a lot of effort, it is said to be the most expensive MMORPG from Korea of all time.
But from the beginning, there were big problems. The game was originally supposed to release in 2009 for PC and Xbox 360.
But media reported back in 2010 that Kingdom under Fire 2 was stuck in “developer hell”:
- The developer ran out of money.
- Key developers left the team.
The Xbox version was postponed. Then it was said that Kingdom under Fire should come for PlayStation 3 – but that also went nowhere.
Western Release Planned Since 2014
What is so messed up? The situation only got stranger from 2014:
- It involves at least 4 regions (Southeast Asia, Russia, China, and the West).
- And 2 planned platforms (PC and PS4) – of which there is still no PS4 version to date.
- And many open betas, planned releases, and withdrawals.
From 2014 onwards, the game was somewhat out, but the ambitions were always greater than the reality.
In fact, a PC version was released for the Southeast Asian market – a market that was almost completely under the radar of most Western players and media. However, in the region around Malaysia, people only have weak PCs, and the game had to be adapted.
In 2014, they began to present the game at Western and Asian fairs:
- Between 2014 and 2016, it was repeatedly said at fairs that the title would release in Europe and North America on PC and PS4. At the latest the following year.
- The YouTuber AngryJoe gushed that it was his game of the E3 fair in 2014.
- In 2015, it was supposed to conquer the PlayStation 4 as a “F2P” title.
- We at MeinMMO have numerous articles from that time, where Kingdom under Fire 2 fluctuated between “missing and inaccessible” and “We’re back and coming soon to the West.” This is always complicated by the fact that there are often only Asian sources that are difficult to access.
The game also started in Russia. Again, it was stated: “We’re coming to Europe and North America and conquering the world there.”
That went wrong: But everything faded away:
- The servers in Southeast Asia were shut down in 2017 for “unforeseeable reasons”.
- An open beta in Russia had started and has since been discontinued.
- There has been little news from China for years.
The developer Blueside suddenly discovered India and the Middle East.
So it is now: Now the Karlsruhe publisher Gameforge is bringing the MMORPG to Europe and North America in 2019 – but only for PC. Nothing has been heard about the PS4 version.
It will be a mammoth task for Kingdom under Fire 2 to convince players here in the West that it is an MMORPG with a future.
Little has been said about the actual game in the last 10 years – this chaos surrounding the development has always stood in the way of discussion.
But none of these plans to bring the game to the West and consoles materialized – at least not until today.
When did it look good? In 2016, a PC version appeared in China that was actually being further developed. Here, classes could be introduced, bringing more classes: The MMORPG looked suddenly interesting with its mix of battles and individual combat, and fit with the new trend of siege MMOs. We owe games like Conqueror’s Blade and Tiger Knight to this trend.
In 2017, it briefly looked as though the MMORPG Kingdom Under Fire 2 finally found solid ground, found a market, and was successfully further developed.
The game also started in Russia. Again, it was stated: “We’re coming to Europe and North America and conquering the world there.”
That went wrong: But everything faded away:
- The servers in Southeast Asia were shut down in 2017 for “unforeseeable reasons”.
- An open beta in Russia had started and has since been discontinued.
- There has been little news from China for years.
The developer Blueside suddenly discovered India and the Middle East.
So it is now: Now the Karlsruhe publisher Gameforge is bringing the MMORPG to Europe and North America in 2019 – but only for PC. Nothing has been heard about the PS4 version.
It will be a mammoth task for Kingdom under Fire 2 to convince players here in the West that it is an MMORPG with a future.
Little has been said about the actual game in the last 10 years – this chaos surrounding the development has always stood in the way of discussion.
