Astellia was one of the few MMORPGs that was released in 2019. It promised an old-school gaming experience and offered classic content like dungeons, world bosses, and crafting. However, the game did not fulfill some promises and brought too little innovation. It was then discontinued in 2021. However, in 2022 it was sold to a new company.
What is happening at Astellia right now? Astellia is actually one of the MMOs that unfortunately died in the West in 2021. However, on January 4, the developer Round 8 Studios sold all rights to the MMORPG Astellia to the company Itoxi Corp. (via game.mk.kr). This is a Korean company.
Itoxi now has the rights to distribute Astellia internationally and theoretically bring it back to us. Currently, there is only a Korean version of Astellia Royale, a free-to-play version affected by the acquisition. There will be a character transfer on January 13.
The original servers of the buy-to-play version of Astellia in Korea were already shut down in 2019. Since then, Koreans mainly played the Western version. However, the Western buy-to-play version of Astellia and also of Astellia Royale were discontinued in 2021.
Is Astellia really returning? This has not been confirmed by Itoxi yet. However, the company is very active regarding online games and has already brought the MMORPG Pristontale (PC, Release 2001), the dancing game Audition Online (PC, 2007), and several mobile games, including Riders of Icarus M, to the West.
A return as a mobile game would be possible, as Astellia is supposed to receive an autoplay system for the future.
How Astellia looked can be seen in the video from YouTuber TheLazyPeon:
Astellia was a solid MMORPG, but received little attention
What did Astellia fail at? Astellia received little attention at launch. This was partly due to it being announced shortly after the closure of Bless Online. Trust in Asian MMORPGs was lost for a while.
In addition, while Astellia wanted to rely on traditional values, it did not bring any real innovations or changes. The only thing that made the MMORPG special were the Astels, small magical companions that could take on the role of tanks, healers, or DPS. However, many of them were designed to be so cute that they did not resonate well with every player.
Other points of criticism included the very linear story and the rather boring gameplay. At the time of release, Astellia simply could not keep up with modern MMORPGs.
Additionally, some players were disappointed that promises made by the developer were not kept, including the complete removal of the gender locks. This was only implemented for 2 out of 5 classes.
Is a return of Astellia worth it? Astellia reached a peak of 250 concurrent players on Steam in 2021. Moreover, there was an external client that could be downloaded without Steam. The MMORPG had a few fans in the West, although not a large number. Here on MeinMMO, some readers mourned the death of Astellia.
With an upgrade to Unreal Engine 4, fulfilling some old promises, and slightly smoother gameplay, a return of Astellia could theoretically win back a small number of players. However, a great success is unlikely due to the lack of innovations.
What do you think about the return of Astellia? Would you wish for it, or should the MMORPG remain dead?
For 2023, a new and very interesting MMORPG has been announced that will take you into the world of the 18th century:
New MMORPG turns you into a pirate in the 18th century – Comes with 156 factions and 760 cities
