Chronicles of Elyria wanted to be a special MMORPG where your character can age and then die. However, in 2020, almost all employees were laid off, and everything looked like the game was dead. But in a new developer update, the release of the game has now been announced for 2024.
What kind of game is this? Chronicles of Elyria was a very ambitious sandbox MMORPG, where you were supposed to create your own dynasty:
- The game world consisted of many, partly huge kingdoms
- Your character should be able to rule over such a kingdom
- Eventually, the aging process was supposed to lead to the character dying. You would then be able to play as your son or daughter, who inherited traits from the previous character.
- There was supposed to be a lot of freedom. Aside from kingdoms, you could live as a merchant, craftsman, or adventurer
- Roleplaying was considered particularly important
- Housing, crafting, and PvP were also supposed to be included
How did development go? Chronicles of Elyria raised over 1.14 million euros through Kickstarter in 2016. The first displayed content from Chronicles of Elyria looked really good in the videos.
However, the development took a long time and reached a point where the fundamental systems were only presented in a very simplistic graphics. This graphics, however, faced criticism and players complained about the setbacks.
Moreover, there was criticism for many events that were related to real money, as well as an Advent calendar with in-game items costing a whopping 95$. All these things existed before the MMORPG even reached alpha status.
In March 2020, there was then the major setback. All employees of Soulbound Studios, the company behind Chronicles of Elyria, were laid off and the development was not to be continued. Because despite the many crowdfunding actions and the innovative ideas, no major investor or publisher could be found.
Everything looked as if the MMORPG was buried.
Walsh wanted to turn the MMORPG into a strategy game, now it’s supposed to be released in 2024
What happened next? After the layoffs, many players demanded their money back that they had invested in Chronicles of Elyria. They even threatened with a lawsuit. In response, the head of Soulbound Studios announced that he would continue working on the game and wanted to finish it with the help of volunteers and unpaid helpers.
Shortly thereafter, he announced that before the release of Chronicles of Elyria a new game was to be released: Kingdoms of Elyria.
This, in turn, will be a strategy game where you build and manage a settlement. Walsh wanted to use the assets and previously programmed content from Chronicles of Elyria for this, as the building of kingdoms had always been an essential content there.
What happens now with the MMORPG? In a new “State of Elyria” from January 1, 2022, it is stated that work is still being done on the MMORPG (via ChroniclesOfElyria).
According to this post, Chronicles of Elyria is supposed to benefit from the strategy game and will then be implemented in a timely manner. Walsh’s official plan is as follows:
- Kingdoms of Elyria (KoE) is supposed to be released in a basic version already in late summer 2022
- A expansion and an online feature for the strategy game are planned for 2023
- Additionally, Chronicles of Elyria (CoE, the MMORPG) is supposed to celebrate its release by the end of 2024
However, it is unclear how many people are currently working on the game and how far the MMORPG has actually developed. The last gameplay from 2020 – when there were still many employees – enthused very few viewers:
In addition, there is much criticism that Walsh rarely provides updates. The last blog entry before the “New Year’s speech” was in June 2021, that is about 7 months ago.
According to Walsh, this is because alpha tests for Kingdoms of Elyria are currently ongoing, and backers are kept informed via newsletters and forum entries. There is supposed to be a more intensive exchange with users who have paid in advance for the game.
What do you think about Chronicles of Elyria? Would you give the MMORPG another chance, or has the entire process surrounding the development rather put you off? Feel free to share it in the comments.
Why crowdfunding games are so fascinating and also frustrating for many players, we have summarized here:
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