Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings is a fantasy MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) for Microsoft Windows-based PCs which was released on November 22, 2002 and shut down on December 30, 2005. In 2012, it was relaunched as a beta for active Asheron's Call subscribers. It is a sequel to 1999's Asheron's Call, although content, graphics and gameplay dynamics differed greatly from its predecessor.
Both games were developed by Turbine Entertainment Software and originally published by Microsoft Game Studios, until Turbine purchased the Asheron's Call franchise in December 2003. The Microsoft to Turbine transition was completed in spring 2005. In 2004 and 2005, Turbine entered business arrangements with Jolt Online Gaming to operate AC2 in Europe and with Sony Online Entertainment to distribute the game's first expansion, Asheron's Call 2: Legions, under the Station Publishing label.
The original Asheron's Call continued to be operated, even after AC2 was shuttered. In December 2012, AC players were given the opportunity to play AC2 once again, on a new server. On December 20, 2016, it was announced that once again the game would close on January 31, 2017. On January 31, 2017, the Turbine ran AC2 server subsequently shut down, for a second time in history.
|