In a coup for Trion, home of popular MMO Rift, the publisher announced today that it be the home in North America for recently-released and much anticipated Korean sandbox MMO ArcheAge.

ArcheAge, which was in development for more than 6 years and comes from the creator of Lineage, Jake Song, was searching for a publisher to put it into the North American market but had so far come up short in its quest. Trion’s announcement today that it would publish XLGames‘ MMO comes as welcome news to fans who have eagerly anticipated the game for years.

ArcheAge will offer players the chance to live in a fantasy realm wherein they can craft, quest, build, and explore to their hearts’ content. Unlike more traditional MMORPGs like World of Warcraft or Guild Wars 2, ArcheAge welcomes its players to do more than quest and grind, and, in fact, encourages the construction of a virtual community on multiple levels.

It features a justice system as well as naval combat within player-built ships. The press release from Trion follows:

TRION WORLDS AND XLGAMES TEAM UP TO BRING HIGHLY ANTICIPATED ARCHEAGE® TO WESTERN MARKETS

Trion Anchors its Global Platform Offering with the Premier Asian Developer

Redwood Shores, CA (Jan. 24, 2013) – Leading online games company Trion Worlds and renowned South Korea-based game developer XLGAMES have entered into a strategic agreement for Trion to exclusively publish and operate ArcheAge® in the West. Created by Jake Song, best known for his hit game Lineage, the highly anticipated ArcheAge is poised to be the most polished massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) coming out of Asia. Trion will host the game on its Red Door platform in North America, Europe, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Trion Worlds, a company who is setting a new standard for gaming by embracing original, high-quality IPs on a dynamic connected platform,” said Jake Song, CEO and founder of XLGAMES. “We are impressed with Trion’s track record as they have consistently delivered against an unwavering vision; we are confident partnering with Trion will help bring ArcheAge a successful game that satisfies audience both in East and West.”
“We’re very impressed with ArcheAge, and the level of anticipation for the game is absolutely astonishing,” said Dr. Lars Buttler, CEO and founder of Trion Worlds. “We are very proud of the catalog of world-class games we will be offering through Red Door. Now, with ArcheAge, we are bringing the best in Asia onto our platform.”

Having gone through more than six years of development and nearly two years of closed testing, ArcheAge introduces players to a fantasy sandbox world where they begin their journey on one of two continents: Nuia and Harihara. From there, everything else is up to the player, from what character they play, to where they go, and why. The game promises to remove the restrictions that have hindered other MMORPGs, especially concerning character classes and skills. ArcheAge started its commercial service on January 16 in South Korea.

ArcheAge is the latest premium online game to join Trion’s growing roster of titles on the Red Door platform. Red Door is a full-scale publishing and development solution enabling unprecedented flexibility and control for game monetization teams. The platform offers a sophisticated server architecture as well as proprietary toolsets positioned to radically speed up the time-to-market for developers who want to create the next generation of AAA games. In 2012, Trion also announced a joint venture with leading European games company Crytek to co-publish and co-operate the award-winning online first-person shooter Warface® in the West through GFACE® powered by Trion’s online platform.

For more information on ArcheAge, visit www.ArcheAgegame.com