This is the question the studio has answered most often, and always the same way. It matters, because most of the disappointment around this game comes from expecting the genre it says it is not.
XLGAMES calls it a discovery-driven online action RPG and compares it to Breath of the Wild. What that means for players expecting an MMO.
01What the studio says it is
The executive producer, on Steam, 31 July 2025: “this isn’t ArcheAge 2. It’s not a traditional MMORPG. What we’re making is a discovery-driven online action RPG. Think tighter combat, more focused pacing, and a world that’s still shared and social but not built for massive zerg fights or dozens of overlapping systems.”
In written answers published by Massively Overpowered on 1 August 2025, the team repeats it and adds a comparison: “this is an exploration-driven action RPG, that will have online elements such as trading, housing, crafting… Think of it as a hybrid of games like Zelda: Breath of the Wild and ArcheAge.”
02How many players you will actually see
The same interview gives the only figure published on population: “we’re still tuning final numbers, but depending on the zone and activity, you can expect to encounter dozens of other players at a time.” Dozens, not hundreds — which is consistent with everything else the studio has said about scale.
The team also names its influences for exploration: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Witcher 3, and Elden Ring, for “open-world exploration, environmental storytelling, and meaningful progression through solo play”.
03What still looks like an MMO
A persistent shared world, guilds, twenty-player open-world raids, a player economy fed by crafting and trade, and housing neighbourhoods. The label the studio rejects is “traditional MMORPG”, not “online world” — and the difference is mostly one of scale and obligation.
It's not a traditional MMORPG. What we're making is a discovery-driven online action RPG. Think tighter combat, more focused pacing, and a world that's still shared and social but not built for massive zerg fights.
These documentary notes remain in the language in which they were collected; they are not necessarily verbatim quotations.
Sources
Checked through . How we establish what we publish →
- steamcommunity.com ↗ — . ConfirmedSource note — wording preserved
It's not a traditional MMORPG. What we're making is a discovery-driven online action RPG. Think tighter combat, more focused pacing, and a world that's still shared and social but not built for massive zerg fights.
These documentary notes remain in the language in which they were collected; they are not necessarily verbatim quotations.
- massivelyop.com ↗ — . ReportedSource note — wording preserved
We want to make sure that players understand that ArcheAge Chronicles is not a traditional MMORPG. Instead, this is an exploration-driven action RPG… As for number of players, we're still tuning final numbers, but depending on the zone and activity, you can expect to encounter dozens of other players at a time.
These documentary notes remain in the language in which they were collected; they are not necessarily verbatim quotations.