Lost Ark was officially launched for American and European servers on February 11^th, 2022,. The game can be played for free on PC via Steam.In a short period, players are immediately interested to compete and meet all available servers.

The server of the game is indeed crowded, in fact it only needed 24 hours for the game to reach 1 million active players. Even crazier, at the time, this Korean made MMORPG game also broke the record for second place with the title of the most played game on Steam in less than a week after its release.

History of the Game

Lost Ark is actually not a new game, in fact, the manufacturing and the development of the game took almost a decade, which is started in 2011. Lost Ark initially introduced with the name Project T and promised as an Action-MMORPG game with fascinating visuals, which utilizes Unreal Engine 3 as its engine.

Slow but sure, the development of the game was much discused on many forums. Until finally, Lost Ark was officially launched in early December 2019 in Korea. His success at that time was unstoppable. The game can collect a total of 350,000 players on its first debut. In the same year, Lost Ark won six awards at the 2019 Korea Game Awards.

Seeing this success, Lost Ark tried to spread its wings overseas. Before entering America and Europe, Lost Ark tried to open its servers in countries such as Japan and Russia. Although it is considered unusual because the playerbase is not as large as other countries, Lost Ark still maintains its winsstreaks.

Jump into the current year, the Lost Ark development team, in collaboration with Amazon, launched this game in America and Europe, on February 11, 2022. In just three days, Lost Ark was able to surpass 1.3 million players. An astonishing number, but an astonishing achievement.

Gameplay & Features

Taking the theme of a fantasy world, Lost Ark provides a very broad world experience called Arkesia. At the beginning of the story, players will be offered a choice of a combination of Class and Job. The choice of classes offered is also diverse, ranging from the strong & tough Warrior, to the agile & deadly Assassin.

For those who have tasted Lost Ark, one thing that is most noticeable in this game is the free customization. The customization referred to here is not only visual and appearance, but also the fighting style and variety of skills that players can choose and use.

Even though there are two players with the same Advanced Class, the skills issued can be different. Even though the skills issued are exactly the same, the effects can also be different, etc.

The skill customization here uses the skilltree system as in RPG games in general and uses a point system that is obtained when leveling up.

What makes it even more interesting, players don’t need to be afraid to spend skill points, because there is no penalty or use premium items to replace skilltrees. Players are also able to find cheapest Lost Ark Gold which can be found at mmoexp to build up their character. Thus, players are given the free opportunity to be creative and optimize their game.

The execution of the game is also not to be forgotten. Although taking the RPG path, Lost Ark gives players an exciting and dynamic way of fighting. Not just being pressed once, there are several skills that require players to hold, or apply a chain skills system in a row. Some skills even require timing bars and combos to maximize character performance. In all aspects of the game, players are compete to levelling up, seaching for more Lost Ark Gold and items to build their characters.

For story writing, Lost Ark has a main story that is quite curious. Several times players are given a choice of branching actions, which will determine the storyline (although there are some side stories that are too dramatized and are similar to soap opera stories on television).

In the middle of the game, players can sail to visit various islands, each with its own theme. From islands of fairies to demons, from extreme climates to tropical islands. The variations given are very many, making it one of the important factors in this game.

Rivals & Competitors

When talking about MMORPGs, it feels like something is missing if you don’t discuss games of a similar genre, especially with an audience of western players. In recent years, games like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, and most recently, New World have dominated the player base.

Lost Ark’s popularity can be said to have benefited from the execution of these games. For example, Final Fantasy XIV had closed access to new players, due to their servers being always overloaded. Even the playing hours of free trial players are also limited.

For information, in Final Fantasy X!V, players will be given a free trial to try the game. When the player hits the specified limit and still wants to continue progressing, the player must pay a subscription every month. The same system implemented by World of Warcraft first.

Another example can also be taken from the Lost Ark’s distant cousin, the New World. Had become a hit a few months ago, the New World hype itself has dropped drastically at this time. Problems such as unstable servers, arbitrary policies (such as removing the trading system and merging servers), to GPU damage, make this game leave a bitter taste in the minds of players.

With the condition of other games that are facing their respective problems, Lost Ark comes at the right moment. The sea of ​​MMORPG players adrift seemed to get a breath of fresh air.

And the difference that is immediately visible and felt is that players can enjoy Lost Ark for free. As a result, the surge in players was unstoppable, resulting in the record that is known today. Moreover, Lost Ark is supported by Steam, a giant platform, whose reputation has been tested. Players can also enjoy the wide open world map with various monster to get some money, item drop, and also build up their characters to battle on PVP with other players. There are also many platforms to Buy Lost Ark Items that can help players to help strengthen their character faster.

To maximize momentum and attract more players, Lost Ark is also working with the big Streamers on Twitch, to promote their games. Even player bases from other countries, such as countries in Southeast Asia, India, etc., also don’t want to miss trying the game, even if they have to use a VPN.

Constraints and Potential

There is no ivory that is not cracked. The Lost Ark itself certainly had some weaknesses. This can be fixed as the game progresses. Although Lost Ark is handled by Amazon Games, the same team behind the chaotic New World, the community doesn’t seem to need to be pessimistic and skeptical.

For example, a few days after its release, Lost Ark immediately fixes, optimizes, and even adds to their servers, when there is an overload or other server problems.

Let’s hope Amazon learns a valuable lesson and doesn’t repeat the same mistakes. Unlike New World, at least Lost Ark itself wasn’t yesterday afternoon’s game. This game still has a myriad of successful experiences to emulate, from countries before America and Europe.

And it is also possible that Lost Ark will open their servers to countries with massive player bases, such as Indonesia. But for now, Lost Ark should be able to guarantee their execution for the next few months, before looking to other countries.