ArcheAge returns to Steam after half a year, acts as if nothing happened

The sand park MMO ArcheAge is back on Steam after half a year. No words are mentioned about the reasons for its absence.

Before the official release of ArcheAge, the title already made waves on Steam. The large Founder package sold so strongly at the beginning of August that it made it to a place in the top 5. The package for 135 euros granted access to the alpha, which was always open at that time; the beta, however, was only restricted to certain dates. However, it was already being discussed at that time that players from the alpha were being banned, as hackers had apparently gained access with “illegally obtained codes” and were already testing methods in the alpha that should later fill their coffers after launch.

On August 27, ArcheAge disappeared from Steam’s offerings. This did not seem entirely voluntary. In the official forum, community manager Scapes mentioned that they were in talks with Steam to list the packages again. Later, they spoke of “technical problems” with the integration.

This was the last official communication from Trion Worlds regarding the topic of “Steam.” Shortly thereafter, it became evident in the game that ArcheAge was under attack by hackers and fraudsters who bought access with fake credit cards. In the following months, Trion Worlds also did not always seem technically capable of meeting the demands that the game brought: they had significant difficulties assigning the benefits associated with the founder’s package to the buyers. The integration of the payment system of the Korean ArcheAge with their own software seemed to take a long time to succeed.

It therefore seems likely that the title’s exclusion from Steam was related to such technical problems that they simply could not get a grip on. But that is speculation; there is no official statement, and as they now pretend that nothing happened, one likely should not expect anything more on this.

Now ArcheAge is listed on Steam again in March 2015. And it has, as is typical for ArcheAge, a special package on offer, just for Steam users.

This includes for 22.99€:

The mystery surrounding the disappearance at that time will likely remain unsolved.