Kakao Games Announces Subscription Model For ArcheAge: Unchained

ArcheAge will soon be under new management, as XLGames' MMORPG switches publishers from gamigo to Kakao Games in December. Also new will be ArcheAge: Unchained's monetization, as the pay-to-play version of the free-to-play ArcheAge will be getting a subscription, plans for which were outlined by Kakao today.

That subscription will cost $9.99 per month, with discounts applied for three- and six-month purchases. Purchasers of the original game or DLCs will receive up to 150 days' of subscription time, and new purchasers will receive 30 days of subscription time. Further DLCs will not carry an additional cost.

The Patron system will automatically be applied to every subscriber. The premium ArchePass will be free during the first month of service and will cost 500 Loyalty Tokens for every month thereafter. You will receive 20 Loyalty Tokens for free for your first login every day; they can no longer be purchased. Manastorm Crystals will "effectively" replace Diligence Coins and be earned through the Premium ArchePass.

As expected, Kakao said that "any paid items will be purely cosmetic." Granted, the game will soon be under new management, and people seem generally pleased with how Black Desert Online goes about its business, but it's going to be hard for anyone, ArcheAge player or no, to take that promise at face value considering the game's tumultuous and controversial history -- which even included a long-running lawsuit.