Indie MMORPG Embers Adrift launches this week

Creating an MMORPG is a huge undertaking – massive is right there in the name, after all. So it’s remarkable to see a smaller indie game development team like Stormhaven Studios announcing the imminent launch of its new MMO, Embers Adrift. The Embers Adrift release date is set for October 15, and it follows a beta period that’s been open for early backers of the fantasy game.

Embers Adrift is set in a land called Newhaven. As a new player, you’ve travelled a treacherous territory known as the Darklands and can explore it again to gain treasure, including a powerful alchemical substance called ember.

Stormhaven has gone its own way with Embers Adrift, skipping some standard-fare MMORPG elements like mini-maps and PvP. The devs say they’ve created a unique system for enemy AI and aggro, and it has its own unique approach to death, retrieval, wounds, and recovery.

There’s magic in the low fantasy world of Embers Adrift, and it’s all tied to ember itself – this can be used in alchemical decoctions and ‘spells’ that are available to any of the three base character classes, which fan out into nine specialisations.

Rather than using an in-game map, Embers Adrift has players navigate with the environment itself – you’ll have to work out where to go using your own senses of direction and navigation.

The base game is available at the official Embers Adrift site, and until October 31 it’s on sale for $29.99 USD or your regional equivalent. Monthly subscriptions are $9.99 until January 1, at which point the monthly price for new subscriptions increases to $14.99.

Embers Adrift looks worth checking out based on the strength of its vistas alone – the trailer and screens show vast fields of wildflowers, an imposing ancient barrier wall that stretches into the snowy mountain peaks, and old forest of enormous evergreen trees.

Austin-based Stormhaven says it wants Embers Adrift to be a truly community-driven game, and that the team is dedicated to making players part of the journey. It’ll be exciting to see where that leads.