Albion Online

Albion Online (AO) is a free medieval fantasy MMORPG by Sandbox Interactive.

Set in a medieval world, Albion Online is a medieval fantasy game based on the Arthurian legends, with militaristic strategy aspects to it. Albion Online has been translated into 11 languages and has over 5 million registered users.

Gameplay
Albion Online's gameplay centres itself around a classless system, in which the equipment a player chooses to wear defines their abilities and the way they can play. Players can go out and do activities in Albion's world in order to gain "Fame," similar to "experience" in other MMORPGs. Through this Fame players can get access to other weapon and armour types, with stronger equipment requiring more Fame to use. Stronger gear can be used as players progress throughout the game. The game has a large open-world map that players can travel through. Different PVP zones offer different levels of risk and reward, including Yellow, Red, and Black zones; Red and Black zones featuring full loot drop upon death.

The game has a fully player driven economy. All equipment and items are made by other players. The game offers both PVE and PVP experience.

Development
The game was developed and published by Berlin-based studio Sandbox Interactive. During the beta stages of development, players were able to purchase "Founder's Packs" to gain access to the closed beta play-tests which were run intermittently by Sandbox Interactive, typically after an interval of a few months of development. After the release of the game, these founder's packs were made unavailable for purchase. Albion Online removed its free-to-play model for various reasons on December 30, 2015. (Which was then made free again at a later date)

When it initially released on July 17, 2017, Albion Online offered a selection of "Starter Packs" which granted players access to the game and offered a varying amount of gold (In-game currency) to get started. Once a player purchased any of the starter packs, they would be granted open-ended access to the game with no extra mandatory fees. Players could also purchase membership for a limited amount of time without the benefits of the starter packs. On April 10, 2019, Albion Online went Free to Play. Players can also buy premium with in-game currency (gold & silver).

On March 20, 2023 a second server based in Singapore named "the east server" was opened to the public

The game released its latest update called Crystal Raiders on January 8 2024. A new server was announced on the 5th of March, 2024 for the Europe, Middle East and North Africa regions. This announcement has sparked controversies within the community, with some users claiming it will negatively affect activity on the existing North American server and calling the decision a cash grab.