Archeage Unchained (AAU) was announced on August 19, 2019 and launched on October 15, 2019. It had the same content and the same updates as legacy Archeage but featured a new monetization model. Unchained advertised itself as the correction of asymmetries between free-2-play players or subscribers and thus symmetrical player vs. player content. On December 2nd, ArcheAge Unchained was acquired by Kakao Games, who restructured the pricing model and replaced it with a subscription model.[1] The takeover resulted in frustration by players who already paid for the game with the assumption to only pay once for it as a pay-to-play game, resulting in falling ratings in various review sections after the takeover.
Features[]
- No patron subscription next to free-2-play players, everyone is effectively a patron.
- A rebalanced and reworked marketplace, so that it doesn't offer gameplay advantages anymore but is purely cosmetic instead.
- Archepass was added, similar in style to a Battlepass of other games. Battlepass increased the rewards of daily mission to include cosmetic rewards.
- Shared content and updates between ArcheAge Legacy version and ArcheAge Unchained version.
- It isn't possible to transfer characters between ArcheAge Legacy version and ArcheAge Unchained version.
Pricing[]
Current Pricing (Kakao Games)[]
The following subscription models are available:
30 days: $9.99
90 days: $27.99
180 days: $51.99
Old Pricing (until December 2022)[]
The game had 3 seperate pricing tiers. A purchase included no further subscription fees. A higher prize included bundles with additional cosmetics, player titles, or similar items.
Silver Chainbreaker: $25.99
Gold Chainbreaker: $49.99
Archeum Chainbreaker: $79.99
Following the acquisition by Kakao Games, players who previously purchased any of the packs received a 60-day subscription and an extra 30-day trial. Likewise, players who purchased additional DLCs received additional subscription days after acquisition.