According to an announcement on the ArchLord Web site, Codemasters will be closing the European and North American game servers on Oct. 2 due to the company's inability to reach an agreement to renew its contract with Korean developer NHN. The license for the western ArchLord service has been given to Webzen.

Information on the transition is provided in this FAQ on the official Codemasters forum. According to the FAQ, Webzen will launch the North American and European service for ArchLord on Oct. 3. Codemasters will be giving Webzen all game data, including character data and game server data. Most of the answers ask players to visit the Webzen ArchLord site for more details.

The Webzen site states that additional servers will be launched to accommodate the influx of Codemasters ArchLord players. The site also says "Webzen is working closely with Codemasters and NHNGames for the seamless transition." You can read Codemasters' full announcement after the jump.

It is with much sadness that today we announce our intention to close the European and North American ArchLord game servers operated by Codemasters Online.

Our licence for ArchLord is due to expire shortly and unfortunately, after several weeks of negotiations with NHN, the Korean developers of the title, we have not been able to reach an agreement to renew the contract, therefore the service will be transitioning across to Webzen.

This means that Codemasters will no longer have the right to operate the service in the Western territories it currently provides service in and therefore we are obliged to shut down all associated game services before the licence expires.

The last full day of service will be 1st October, 2009. All ArchLord world servers will shut down on the morning of Friday 2nd October, UK time. Further details of how the transition of the service will be handled, will be provided closer to the time of the transition.

The purchase of credits is now no longer available to ensure all players have the opportunity to spend their remaining Chantra credits in game and use their remaining Chantra items. Likewise, the creation of new ArchLord game accounts/subscriptions is now disabled. For further information, please see our ArchLord Service Transition FAQ in the forums.

ArchLord was Codemasters Online's first free to play MMO service and we have been very proud of its development and success during its three years of existence. Over that time the service has gone from strength to strength and has one of the most passionate communities we’ve ever seen.

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported ArchLord and those players that not only played it, but also raised an army and ruled the world in Chantra.

The Codemasters Online Team
www.codemasters.com