Lost Ark delays full release, announces closed beta date

Towards the tail end of the summer, Amazon Games was set to deliver two hugely ambitious MMORPG titles to the gaming world.

However, now the publisher is delaying one of the titles… after it delayed the other a couple of weeks ago. 

New World and Lost Ark are the two giants that Amazon is currently developing. While Lost Ark has been available in Korea for years, the studio took on its publishing responsibilities for the western world (Europe and North America). Originally, the game was set to release sometime in late 2021, with New World launching on 31st August of the same year. Of course, this was after New World was initially delayed from the summer of 2020. 

Now, as we head into September, Amazon has yet to fully release New World, another delay backed it up to late September, and Lost Ark is also being delayed until “early 2022.” 

Amazon Games delays Lost Ark until 2022

While Lost Ark is still developed by Smilegate, Amazon is at the head, making many out-of-game decisions. As the publisher, Amazon essentially determines when the game will be released and any business decisions that go along with it.

When Lost Ark announced its delay into early 2022, many fans chose to blame Amazon for delaying another title, the first being New World. However, some fans conspired that Amazon is delaying Lost Ark so as to not diminish the hype for New World. Its delay brought it closer to Lost Ark’s original release date and Amazon might not have wanted its two MMOs to launch so close to each other.

Please read this letter regarding Lost Ark's Closed Beta and Official Launch. pic.twitter.com/jSSnrrxk6w

— Lost Ark (@PlayLostArk) September 1, 2021

Regardless, the Lost Ark Twitter announced the delay in a lengthy statement. They stated the team has been “working hard, translating walls of text, squashing bugs, spending long hours in the recording studio and preparing the server infrastructure behind the scenes.” These are all the cited reasons behind the delay. To sum everything up, the statement read: 

“We discovered a lot more work that will be needed to launch Lost Ark at the high-quality bar our players deserve.” 

The release date is now slated for early 2022, but no official month or date was offered. 

Closed Beta test dates for Lost Ark

While players won’t get the full release of the MMO, they can participate in a Closed Beta later this year. The test is set for 4th November to 9th November and will allow the devs to stress test the game’s servers and find any additional bugs they might have missed. Players can also submit feedback that will help the devs with their decision-making for the full release. If you want to gain access to the Lost Ark Closed Beta, you can pre-order the Lost Ark Founder’s Pack or sign up for a chance to be invited.

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