It’s re-launch day for Eden Eternal, and if you haven’t been following along, well sit back because we’re about to do a recap, and it’s kinda weird.
Eden Eternal launched in the west under the Aeria Games banner way back in 2011 and then got folded into Gamigo’s catalogue when Aeria was merged into Gamigo in 2016. It was chiefly known for being that cutesy anime MMO with the alpacas (or “that llama game” as we noted in 2011). But as so many games in Gamigo have done, Eden Eternal languished without significant development until it was killed off in early 2021 alongside multiple other titles.
There the story might have ended, except that at the end of 2022, Gamigo decided to axe another set of games amidst layoffs and contract shenanigans, only instead of completely shuttering them, it transferred them back to their original developers. Two of those games – Aura Kingdom and Grand Fantasia – reverted to X-Legend Entertainment, which just so happened to be the original developer of Eden Eternal. X-Legend mobilized to get all three titles updated and back online in the west, though unlike Aura Kingdom and Grand Fantasia, Eden Eternal didn’t carry over player account data.
And now, as of 1 a.m. EDT this morning (apparently after a brief delay, according to Discord), the official launch is upon us. Here’s the pitch:
“Eden Eternal is focused on providing an immersive role-playing experience with a charming art style and diverse game system. The game features a variety of races, such as humans, Zumi, Ursun, Anuran, and more; each race has its own background, culture, and architecture, presenting a rich and unique world for players to explore. […] Eden Eternal provides a slew of gameplay options, including a diverse class system and the ability to manage guild territory through quests, productions, and guild wars. Players can explore unique stories from each scene and accumulate reputation for treasures. The game also has the Couple System for making friends from all over the world. In addition to exploring and collecting loot, don’t forget to foster camaraderie and adventure together with friends!”
And here’s the hitch: A month ago, X-Legend announced that it was going to be running a hoop-jumping NFT giveaway, complete with recommended crypto wallets, for players who join the game’s community early. (The NFT is an alpaca because of course it is.)
Just in case you thought they might have given up on that in the interim…. no. It was reposted again in Discord this week.
At the time, we wondered how X-Legend aimed to bring a game with NFTs to Steam, given that Valve has outlawed them for what are painfully obvious reasons. So we’re also not surprised to find out that EE’s Steam launch has been suddenly postponed as of today because Valve hasn’t approved it (yet?). The devs posted this to both the official site and Discord:
“We have received many inquiries about the Steam version release. We want to inform you that the Steam version is currently under review and we will make it available as soon as possible once it is approved. We kindly ask for your patience and understanding during this process.”
Of course, a Steam delay brings benefits to a game launch that might be rocky, as it trades easy access for suppressed review bombing and hidden user counts.
Finally, we do have to make note that if you’re intent on playing the game, the sign-up is a bit… janky.
The X-Legend website only allows lower case letters in the username and lower case letters and numbers in the password field. No email verification to create an account.
This is some 2006-tier shit.
— Connor (@mmofallout) May 4, 2023
