XLGAMES' ArcheAge Chronicles enters Steam Early Access on November 3, 2026, at 3:00 PM PST. It costs $29.99, and pre-orders are open on Steam. Each pre-order includes the Dawn Pioneer Set, a costume for one class of the player's choice, which can be claimed in-game once Early Access begins.
Ahead of launch, Executive Producer Ham posted a letter on what the team has changed since the Steam Next Fest demo.
A Much Bigger World
The demo only covered a small part of Diamond Shores. Early Access opens most of the rest of it, plus two new regions, Gylden Ruins and Astron Plains. XLGAMES puts that at more than 60 areas, roughly twenty times the size of the demo, with over a thousand exploration and collection points.
Fixes Since the Demo
- Launch and connection: a shader compilation screen now shows on first launch instead of a black screen, and some disconnects, login errors and antivirus conflicts are fixed.
- Servers and parties: new servers in Brazil and Singapore, automatic region selection, and parties that stay together across Peace and Conflict channels. Dungeon progress now survives a disconnect.
- Combat balance: lower Wall of Fire damage, bosses that resist max-HP scaling skills more, and tuning for the Wavesword, Longbow, Warhammer, Hatchet and Elemental Staff.
- Quality of life: 10 rebindable UI shortcuts, camera inversion settings, a Smooth Camera Rotation option, and ladders that no longer use SP.
The core feel of combat was not rushed. A new dedicated combat team will keep adjusting stamina, hit stun and movement speed through Early Access, and it is also looking at soft-lock targeting for ranged attacks and the party aggro system.
First Update in December
Gender-locked classes were the most common feedback since the September network test. Gender selection is being added one class at a time, starting with a female Warrior in the first update in December, and the goal is to remove every gender lock by full release.
The same update adds a third weapon type for each class, beginning with the Gladius for Warriors. XLGAMES plans to share a roadmap soon after launch, once players have had time to play.
