South Korean studio XL Games found itself in a protracted financial crisis after the original ArcheAge shut down and a series of commercial failures, so it took extreme measures to save its business. The company has reportedly sold all intellectual property rights to the ArcheAge series to the newly formed Align Studio, which is funded by Kakao Games Holdings.
The total transaction amount is 39.2 billion won (approximately US$29 million). Among them, approximately 28.9 billion won was used to transfer the ArcheAge S development itself, the team and obligations, and nearly 9.9 billion won was used to transfer the rights to the trademark itself. The deal was forced: XL Games’ operating losses exceeded 24 billion won in the past year, and the company’s net capital fell into deep negative territory. The asset transfer will allow the developer to repay debt and improve emergency liquidity. The new Align Studio will be led by Kim Kyung-tae, the original game’s lead designer.
At the same time, the studio hasn’t cut back on production on its main flagship action RPG, ArcheAge Chronicles. The Chronicles development team remains at XL Games, and the licensing agreement will allow the company to complete the project and provide support after launch, but the fate of the brand is now completely controlled by parent company Kakao Games.