Acclaim Games officially updates the release schedule for The Chronicles of Spellborn MMORPG.  With additional testing and ongoing game improvements, Acclaim’s release schedule has been updated with Closed Beta testing to begin on November 27 and a new release date scheduled for January 2009.  Acclaim’s licensed territories for Spellborn will include North America, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South America.

When the European countries go live on November 27, Acclaim will simultaneously start Close Beta testing in its territories and then go live in January 2009.  Both launches will have the exact same product versions featuring identical Freemium models but with a different release date to accommodate additional testing for a smooth official release.  Extensive testing of the game will ensure players receive the highest quality gaming experience at launch. 

With players around the world eagerly anticipating the launch of Spellborn, the game has undergone some key upgrades to allow more players to participate and enjoy the various features of the online game.  In all regions, Spellborn will be a “Freemium” game, with a Free to Play zone and a required premium subscription service in order to access the full game past the Free to Play zone. 

The Spellborn game client will be completely free to download and install, and will feature the special Free to Play zone with no time restrictions (only level limit).  Key features of this Free to Play zone include the following:  

•  Free players are limited to the starting zones Hawksmouth and Aldenvault.
•  A gameplay limit occurs at Fame level 7, when free players have progressed approximately 90% towards Fame level 8. 
•   Upon reaching this limit, all character progression is blocked and the player will receive a pop-up informing them of this block and what is obtainable beyond this with a premium subscription.

The following elements will be explicitly blocked:

•  Players will be unable to gain Fame in any way or form, frozen at a fixed amount.
•  The player will be able to accept quests, but not able to complete any objectives/quests.
•  Able to kill mobs, but the player will receive no kill credit. This means, no fame reward, no pep reward and no item reward.
•  Unable to travel beyond the zones Hakwsmouth and Aldenvault.

Players who want the full game experience and wish to go past the zone restrictions must purchase a premium subscription option priced at $15 per month to open all game content.  This Freemium model will allow many more players to experience the gameplay before choosing the premium subscription to access the full array of game features and content. 

Initial feedback from the MMORPG player community has been excellent, and the development team is taking this feedback to make various improvements to the game.  According to MMORPG.com’s list of the most popular games in the last 30 days, Spellborn is ranked at #3 (while World of Warcraft is at #8)!  With hype for the game increasing steadily by the moment, players should be extremely excited to participate in the upcoming Closed Beta so they can see exactly what the Spellborn excitement is all about!

It’s an interesting business model but I’m not so sure how well it wil hold up to all the free-to-play games that are and will be available.