Legends of Aria hits Steam early access today with the PvP patch, a sale, and a free month of sub for loyalists

August 6, 2019 10:00 AM

Legends of Aria’s big day has arrived – or will when the gates open today around 3 p.m. EDT.

A few weeks ago, Citadel Studios announced that the Kickstarted MMORPG formerly known as Shards Online would finally be launching on Steam early access, seven months after it opened its doors for players on its own launcher. The extra time allowed Citadel to observe the community and make what it believes are sweeping but necessary changes for today’s patch: It’s adding an optional subscription, a new Bard skill line, a new enchanting system, crafting buffs, an optional level-up guidance system for new players, and most importantly, major ruleset changes that make it much easier for players to avoid PvP and ganking on official servers.

Last night, Citadel Studios announced on Twitter that the game’s price will remain $29.99, but during the launch week, the game will be over a third off, making it $19.79 on Steam. And as a thank-you to existing players, there’s a little something in it for them too.

“We wanted to make sure we weren’t only giving a benefit to new players, so we’ve decided to gift all of our existing players – those of you who joined us on our journey prior to launching on Steam – a one month premium subscription free of charge. The premium sub includes several perks, including an additional housing plot, an additional character slot, free taxes, and 100 weekly gems to use on an assortment of cosmetic and quality of life items in our in-game store (which will be available when the store is online).”

Wanna hear the full explanation from the boss himself? Citadel’s Derek Brinkmann sat down with us for a podcast interview a few weeks back to dig into why the changes were necessary for the survival of the MMO. We’ll also be streaming the new game tonight at 8 p.m. on OPTV, so join us for a fresh look then!

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