ArcheAge Chronicles Early Access Starts November 3 With Demo Fixes and Bigger World

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XLGAMES says ArcheAge Chronicles will enter Early Access on November 3 at 3 PM PT, following its Steam Next Fest demo. In a new producer letter, the studio outlined several fixes headed into launch, including changes for black screens, disconnects, login errors, party issues, chat, and combat balance.

The Early Access build will also be much larger than the demo. XLGAMES says players will get access to most of Diamond Shores, plus Gylden Ruins and Astron Plains, adding up to more than 60 areas and over a thousand exploration and collection points.

  • A shader compilation screen has been added for first launch, so players don’t sit on a black screen while the game loads.
  • Brazil and Singapore servers are being added, with automatic region selection based on location.
  • Parties should now stay together across Peace and Conflict Channels, and players can move directly to the party leader’s channel.
  • Dungeon and instance progress should survive disconnects across all Early Access regions.
  • Several weapons and skills are being adjusted, including Wall of Fire, Wavesword, Longbow’s Fire Arrow, Warhammer, Hatchet, and Elemental Staff lightning skills.
  • Some UI shortcuts can now be rebound, camera Y-axis inversion is being added for mouse and controller, and chat language filters are coming for Region and World channels.

The studio also said it isn’t rushing bigger combat feel changes before Early Access. Stamina, hit stun, movement speed, impact on hit, ranged soft-lock targeting, and party aggro are now being handled by a dedicated combat team, with more tuning planned throughout Early Access.

Looking past launch, XLGAMES confirmed two additions planned for the first post-launch update in December. Warrior will be the first class to get gender selection at character creation, with a female Warrior option planned first. The studio says its goal is to remove gender locks from every class by full release.

Warrior is also getting a third weapon type, the Gladius, in that first update. More classes are expected to get similar additions later, though XLGAMES hasn’t shared a full roadmap yet. The producer letter says a roadmap is planned soon after launch, once players have had time with the Early Access build.

Further reading: Official ArcheAge Chronicles producer letter