Just a week ago, we checked in on Saga of Lucimia, the group-centric MMORPG that’s been in development since 2015; its most recent launch window was set for this year. Its public-facing comms had fallen rather quiet last year, and then in early 2021 we learned that the game’s founder and family members had silently ended work on the game they founded last fall and then parted ways with Stormhaven Studios. “Legal reasons” apparently prevented elaboration at the time. The remaining developers nevertheless maintained that they were “full steam ahead” on the game and promised “many exciting announcements on the horizon,” but those hadn’t materialized by our last post; all the devs would say was that testing on the game continued.
It turns out the demurring was the result of an internal rebranding process going on behind the scenes. Stormhaven Studios announced on Twitter today that it’s rebranding the game as Embers Adrift and abandoning the Lucimia IP. In fact, it sounds as if the game’s design is changing dramatically in response to player feedback too, which may not come as a surprise to gamers who remember how controversial and punishingly group-centric the early test phase was.
“We took a look at our product and recognized a need to emphasize the features and mechanics that were working and move away from elements that were not,” the team says. “Our goal is not to recreate any past MMORPG, but to create a new game that is innovative in its design while drawing inspiration from experiences with classic MMOs and tabletop games; an MMORPG that is focused on community and presents them with deeply immersive and challenging content that will help them forge lasting memories.”
The team says the “path to launch is clear” but does not actually elaborate on what that is. According to the devs on Discord, preorders for Lucimia will carry over for the new game.
We are very happy at Stormhaven Studio to share with you what we have been working on during the Pandemic.
Embers Adrift – An immersive group-based MMORPG focused on challenge & community. Ignite your adventure!
Check out our website for more informations!#IndieDevs #MMORPG pic.twitter.com/7G9GFII1GW
— EmbersAdrift (@EmbersAdrift) June 29, 2021
Introducing… @embersadrift #mmorpg #mmo pic.twitter.com/rhR1vs17Uv
— Saga of Lucimia (@SagaOfLucimia) June 29, 2021
