Smilegate and Amazon Games have announced that the highly anticipated MMORPG Lost Ark will not be arriving in the west until early 2022. As late as E3 2021, both Smilegate and Amazon Games were priming players for a late 2021 release. The news that the game will be delayed by at least a few months will come as a disappointment to players in the west.
From the Twitter post by the development team, we’ve learned a few details:
- closed beta testing will run from November 4th to November 9th
- Founder’s Pack owners will automatically have access to beta testing
- Those without Founder’s Packs can sign up on the official site for a chance to be chosen
- Developers have promised to “improve the quality and frequency of [their] communications”
- Monthly updates will be provided to the community to be “more open with our players about what our team is working on”
- official forums and an official Discord channel will launch in October
The reasons developers are delaying the game’s launch are unsurprising: “We have been working hard, translating walls of text, squashing bugs, spending long hours in the recording studio, and preparing the server infrastructure behind the scenes. While delving into all of the great feedback and data generated by our Alpha and reviewing recent changes to the Korean version that we want to include in our release, we discovered a lot more work that will be needed to launch LA at the high-quality bar our players deserve. As players have been waiting for so long, we want to take the time to do it right while also ensuring we look after the wellness of our hardworking Amazon Games and Smilegate teams.”
Check out the link above or head straight to the Lost Ark official site to learn more.