Remember back when Elyon locked in a launch date of September 29th? It turns out that this was more of a soft-lock, really, giving Kakao the right to change its mind about both the release and the business model.
In a surprise post mere weeks before the fantasy MMO was going to launch, Kakao announced that it was delaying the start of the game to October 20th in order to switch it to a free-to-play business model. The studio cited the heavier competition in the MMORPG space this year and implied that its buy-to-play model might hold it back from achieving initial success.
“While this wasn’t an easy decision, we feel it is ultimately the correct one,” Kakao said. “For anyone disappointed, particularly those who pre-ordered, or marked time off their calendar to dive into Elyon this September, we deeply regret causing this disruption to you. We hope you understand our intent is to bring you the very best Elyon we possibly can.”
Players who have already pre-ordered the game have a choice between receiving a chunk of premium currency or requesting a refund. Anyone who has made a purchase prior to release will be allowed into the 72-hour headstart.
Readers will recall that the original September window had become a bit too close to New World’s newest launch date, so this ought to give it some breathing room to pump up its low test phase numbers for launch.
