Kingdom Under Fire 2 is finally coming to North America

(Image credit: Gameforge)

2010 was a big year. The Winter Olympics were held in Vancouver. Iceland's Mount Eyjafjallajökull erupted, wreaking havoc on air travel across Europe. Slovenia joined the OECD. And PC Gamer checked out a trailer for Kingdom Under Fire 2, an MMOARTS—massively multiplayer online action real time strategy game—that had been announced in 2008.

It had already been delayed at that point—the original release target was 2009—and while Kingdom Under Fire 2 did eventually launch in Asia, that 2010 trailer was the last we heard about it around these parts. But now it looks like it's actually, finally going to happen: Gameforge announced today that it has acquired the KUF2 publishing rights for North America and Europe, and that it will arrive on Western shores later this year.

"We’re very excited to partner with Blueside to continue this epic saga and finally bring it to Western markets for the very first time,” Gameforge chief product officer Tomislav Perkovic said. “We are determined to help Blueside realize their vision of the ultimate MMO, launching Kingdom Under Fire 2 for Windows PC in North America and Europe later this year."

"Ultimate MMO" is a big reach, and the KUF2 subreddit isn't exactly ablaze with activity right now—understandable, given how long fans have been waiting for something to happen. The closure of Russian servers earlier this year didn't help matters, as the reason for the closure—developer Blueside said it wants to work on something new, which may or may not be this—was widely seen (by those still paying attention) as evidence that the game was effectively dead. 

But there was genuine interest in the game when it was announced and through the drawn-out beta testing in Asia, and Gameforge clearly hopes that there's enough of it left to build into a sustainable game. A solid release date hasn't been set, and while Gameforge specializes in free-to-play games, a pricing model hasn't been announced yet either. More information about what's coming in Kingdom Under Fire 2 (aside from those two points, obviously) is up at gameforge.com.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Latest in MMO
Blue Protocol players dancing minutes before the game closes forever
What will we do at the end of the world? If MMOs are any indication: mostly what we already do, plus a lot of dancing
Several tight-wearing superheroes surge towards the camera in a heroic fashion in City of Heroes.
One year later, City of Heroes' officially recognized fan server has me praying it's the future of dead MMOs
Several adventurers in World of Warcraft Classic's hardcore server crying over the death of a fallen comrade.
Blizzard plans to revive WoW Classic Hardcore characters 'at our sole discretion', after DDOS attack puts major streamer guild OnlyFangs in the ground
A forester from Old School Runescape, contemplating life next to his pheasant friend on a green field.
You can finally try out Old School RuneScape’s first new skill in nearly two decades right now
Ghoul in sunglasses
After years of playing as stupid, boring humans in Fallout, you can finally channel your inner Walton Goggins and become a ghoul in Fallout 76
WoW Classic: Season of Discovery
World of Warcraft Classic’s Season of Discovery may be teasing a legendary weapon that players have speculated is in the game for two decades
Latest in News
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened