For the second time in a row - much to the grief of players and developers alike - The Saga of Ryzom, Nevrak's legendary MMORPG, is now once again in danger. This unfortunate bit of news comes directly from the game's forums, in a post made by Community Liaison Marjo.

So what's happened? Apparently, the recent rescue of The Saga of Ryzom was not quite enough to snap it back to life, as Gameforge AG has now made the necessary legal steps to liquidate its assets and close up shop. It seems the company that snatched the Nevrak title from the brink of financial obliteration did not have enough funds to see it through to the very end - which means that yes, the fate of The Saga of Ryzom is now up in the air once more. Until another company decides to pick it up, that is.

Of course, there's still a silver lining in here somewhere. Marjo reassures players that Ryzom is still running, and the characters you've come to know and love are still there in the game's database. Unfortunately, game development has been frozen, and there's a couple of things that are to be changed, as stated below:

• Paying subscribers will not be billed and will be able to continue playing for free.
• It's not possible to pay to subscribe to a full Ryzom account anymore.
• You will still be able to create a Free Trial account, but at the moment there will be no possibility to upgrade your account and go to mainland.
• The level cap on Silan is removed for the Free Trials in the meantime.

Bittersweet news indeed. Updates as we get them, so keep it locked right here for further developments.

 

With new owners and a substantial fanbase, it seems The Saga of Ryzom is still far from dead. Nevrax's MMO will continue under the auspices of German company Gameforge AG, and they recently put up word of the return of subscription fees fees for the game.

Gone, however, are the days when players could pay for a year's worth of gaming in advance. Instead, you can now choose an appropriate gaming subscription for one, three, or six months, depending on your own budget. You'll have to pay for the whole selected period as soon as you choose your rate though. For the rates themselves, the screenshot below lists them all down for you:

The folks at Ryzom do note that if you haven't changes your subscription rate from the previous setups created by Nevrax, your subscription will be automatically renewed unless you change it. In other words, make sure you check their site and update your subscription information accordingly.

This thing has been settled already even before the holidays. Germany-based company Gameforge AG has acquired the rights to The Saga of Ryzom and is in no mood to give it to the open source community. Although it seems like a good idea to leave the game in the hands of the public, the takeover, in the long run, may prove to be beneficial to the game and its bewildered players.

Anyway, one week had passed since the take over and Gameforge finally made its first public statement regarding the matter. According to the company's director Klaas Kersting:

The Saga of Ryzom is a fantastic game with a high potential. We saw the chance to obtain a first-class product together with qualified staff and set up a base in France, one of our most important markets. We just had to act. Along with our future colleagues we will continue improving the title and offer our players a really fantastic product. Of course our competence in community management, marketing, and publishing will greatly benefit this project.

For everyone's information, Gameforge has a subsidiary publisher company in France, under the name Gameforge 4D headed by CEO Carsten van Husen. The game currently boasts of 4.5 million active players worldwide. Well, kudos to Ryzom and to Gameforge as well. We certainly don't want to see more than four million disappointed fans anytime soon.