Astellia

For similar sounding terms, see Astelia, Astellas, Astell, Astelma, and Astala.
Astellia
Developer(s)Studio 8
Publisher(s)Barunson E&A, Friends Games Corp.
EngineUnreal Engine 3[1]
Release
  • KOR: late 2018
  • NA: Summer 2019
Genre(s)MMORPG
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Astellia (sometimes known as Astellia Online) was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Korean Studio 8.

Game was originally released in Korean in late 2018 and launched in summer 2019 in North America. Publisher Barunson released the game free-to-play in Korea and buy-to-play in the West. The game is a high fantasy MMORPG that uses a system of summonable companions called Astels. The player can summon an Astel to complement their weaknesses or strengthen their own power. The Astels are collectable in-game.[2]

Barunson abandoned the game by April 2020 and gave it back to developer studio to found a new publisher.[3] New version of the game called Astellia Royal was released as free-to-play in Steam March 2021.[4][5] Game service (both western versions) was terminated in October 2021.[6]

The game was rerereleased in west as a NFT game called Astel of Atra in December 2022. In this version of the game the Astels are tradeable NFTs stored in Polygon blockchain. Players can earn cryptocurrency in game, but they need to own an Astel NFT to obtain it. It's one of the first play-to-earn blockchain/cryptocurrency titles released (along with other Korean MMORPG title MIR4 of The Legend of Mir series).[7]

Astel of Atra was shut down Feb 10th 2023.[8] Also the game's Korean website seems to be gone by May 2023.

  1. ^ Altay, Omer (24 January 2019). "Astellia Will Be Buy to Play in the West, Promises not to be a Pay 2 Win". MMOs.com.
  2. ^ "Astellia". MMORPG.com. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  3. ^ Marasigan, Marc (2020-04-27). "Barunson E&A Leaves Astellia Online In The Hands Of Developer Studio 8". MMOs.com. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  4. ^ Marasigan, Marc (2021-03-16). "Astellia Online Free-To-Play Version Called Astellia Royal Launches On Steam". MMOs.com. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  5. ^ Marasigan, Marc (2021-08-13). "Astellia Royale Free-To-Play Spinoff Shutting Down Alongside Astellia In October". MMOs.com. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  6. ^ "Astellia - Astellia Service Termination Notice (Updated) - Steam News". store.steampowered.com. 2021-08-09. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  7. ^ Altay, Omer (2022-11-16). "Astellia Relaunching as a Play 2 Earn Blockchain MMORPG "Astel of Atra" and Will Have NFTs". MMOs.com. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  8. ^ Official, Astel of Atra (2023-02-06). "[Notice] Announcement of the game termination". Medium. Retrieved 2023-05-17.