History of the game

[Sc4rf4c3]

Hi everyone, this post is just looking for clarification about a particular matter that I once heard about the game, and I would love to know more.
After Webzen's closing, some private servers started to appear, more noticeable than others was Justac.
By that time, I've heard the rumor that someone had access to the game's source files, but the price was overwhelmingly expensive, 200k usd is in my memory, but I dont know how reliable that number is.
Now, if im not mistaken, the original source code for Archlord is available for free, right?

So anyway, I just wanted to know if anyone knows about that topic, the "selling price" of the client, did anyone buy it, how did it get released, etc. Just a tidbit of history of this game

[Hokagewoc]

Wasn't 200k the price for the rights to the title ?

[Feldunost]

Originally Posted by Hokagewoc

Wasn't 200k the price for the rights to the title ?

Funny how some people / groups think they can buy the rights, delusional.
Quit bragging / dreaming. (Not you of course, but the servers hosters lmao)

But the story might be hard to track and we probably won’t have the full one.
Especially because the leaker could face lawsuits.

[dasadasa92]

Originally Posted by Feldunost

Funny how some people / groups think they can buy the rights, delusional.
Quit bragging / dreaming. (Not you of course, but the servers hosters lmao)

But the story might be hard to track and we probably won’t have the full one.
Especially because the leaker could face lawsuits.

Except webzen is actively licensing the rights to archlord in china to ruiwoo, but then again everything you claim is pulled out of your behind

[Feldunost]

Originally Posted by dasadasa92

Except webzen is actively licensing the rights to archlord in china to ruiwoo, but then again everything you claim is pulled out of your behind

You have absolutely no background, no company, no funding, and you want to dream ? Well … keep dreaming, it’s infinitely easier 🤭🤣

[dasadasa92]

Originally Posted by Feldunost

You have absolutely no background, no company, no funding, and you want to dream ? Well … keep dreaming, it’s infinitely easier 🤭🤣

huh? arent you the one trying to develop a new game while reusing the ancient code base from 2003 from archlord? im here solely as a player

[gle gada]

It’s definitely not speculation, since it has been officially confirmed that Beijing Ruiwo Technology, a company with around 150 employees, officially acquired the rights from Webzen. The figure that was mentioned was a few million dollars.

As for private servers, people like Justac, Osman, and Paragon initially developed their own emulator. This continued until Paragon managed to find someone in China and purchase the leaked source code from him. The exact amount is unknown, but considering the time, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was somewhere in the range of a few thousand dollars.

[Feldunost]

Originally Posted by dasadasa92

huh? arent you the one trying to develop a new game while reusing the ancient code base from 2003 from archlord? im here solely as a player

New game doesn’t mean the archlord lore and story, I don’t need to buy their rights because none of the code I use is the same, completely going different.

So if you are here only as a player, why do you even bother to reply ?
You aren’t in the picture ... 🙄

Edit : that’s an interesting story, Paragon so ?
I am not surprised about the licensing it’s millions.

[dasadasa92]

Originally Posted by Feldunost

New game doesn’t mean the archlord lore and story, I don’t need to buy their rights because none of the code I use is the same, completely going different.

So if you are here only as a player, why do you even bother to reply ?
You aren’t in the picture ... 🙄

Well i do have more of a technical background than you and seemingly more knowledge on the topic as well, but best of luck making your new game with "absolutely no background, no company, no funding, and you want to dream"

[Feldunost]

Originally Posted by dasadasa92

Well i do have more of a technical background than you and seemingly more knowledge on the topic as well, but best of luck making your new game with "absolutely no background, no company, no funding, and you want to dream"

Oh really. 🙄

[gle gada]

This isn’t just some story, these are more or less facts. All the “successful” servers should be grateful to Paragon, because he is the one who made the source code available in our region. And we should be even more grateful to the Chinese guy who sold it to him.

Since I’ve shared information with you from reliable sources, I’d like to hear what people who are even more deeply involved in this game than I am have to say about it. However, I think they’d rather keep that information to themselves. The less information that gets out into the public, the better it is for them, because that way, no one will point fingers at them when things get messy.

[alplayers]

How did we end up with several completely different base clients? One with EP3, one with EP4, we even had EP7 and even EP8. Not questioning your claim, I am just confused.. weren't there multiple sources available then, not just one?

Originally Posted by gle gada

This isn’t just some story, these are more or less facts. All the “successful” servers should be grateful to Paragon, because he is the one who made the source code available in our region. And we should be even more grateful to the Chinese guy who sold it to him.

Since I’ve shared information with you from reliable sources, I’d like to hear what people who are even more deeply involved in this game than I am have to say about it. However, I think they’d rather keep that information to themselves. The less information that gets out into the public, the better it is for them, because that way, no one will point fingers at them when things get messy.

[gle gada]

Originally Posted by alplayers

How did we end up with several completely different base clients? One with EP3, one with EP4, we even had EP7 and even EP8. Not questioning your claim, I am just confused.. weren't there multiple sources available then, not just one?

Yes, there were actually several different sources and development paths over the years. It wasn’t all based on one leaked source.

Here’s a rough timeline:

2012 – ArchEmu

Developers started reverse-engineering packets and encryption to build their own server emulator.

2013 – Archlord-Online

EP1/EP2-based server files were being shared, with custom EP3 modifications.

2016–2017 – Chinese server files / Calidus

Different Chinese server files were circulating.
Calidus started with Chinese EP1 server files and gradually worked towards EP3.

2017 – Osy/Osman

Developed his own EP3 emulator, independently of the original leaked server sources.

2018–2020 – ALEmu

Another independent emulator project based on reverse engineering and packet research.

2021–2022 – Source leaks

Multiple official source versions started circulating.
Developers obtained different branches and combined them with existing server files, databases and community contributions.

2023 – More source releases

Korean and Global source branches became available, along with EP6/EP7/EP8-related material.

So there were three different things circulating: original server source code, compiled server files that developers modified, and independently developed emulators.

Having an EP3, EP4, EP7 or EP8 client doesn’t automatically mean there was a separate leaked source for each episode. Some projects used different official server branches, some modified existing server files, and others developed their own server implementations.

Over time, developers also shared and combined their work, creating even more variations.

So yes, there were multiple foundations available. The private-server scene wasn’t built around one single source that everyone kept updating.