''Mabinogi'' () is a

massively multiplayer online role-playing game A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

released by

Nexon Nexon Co., Ltd. (formerly ) is a South Korean video game developer and publisher. It develops and publishes titles including ''MapleStory'', ''Crazyracing Kartrider'', ''Sudden Attack'', ''Dungeon & Fighter'', ''The First Descendant'', and ''Bl ...

, and developed by devCAT studio. The name of the game is taken from the Welsh word '' Mabinogi'', a Welsh anthology of legend, and the settings for the game are loosely based on

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...

. The game features hand-painted textures stylized with edge detection outlining. The game world is developed continuously, through the release of important updates (referred to as "Generations" and "Seasons") that introduce new areas, additional features such as pets and new skills, and advancement of the storyline. The

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...

is simple and designed in the likeness of

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

' task bar. ''Mabinogi'' was built on a hybrid Value Added Services model (which varies slightly for each game localization) that allows free play and the subscription of paid packages, purchased through the game shop. In South Korea, beginning with the Chapter 3 patch, ''Mabinogi'' changed to micro-transactions. It allows 24-hour free play and the Item Shop only offers items and subscriptions for added options. The game service is available in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

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Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

, and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. The North American closed beta test began on January 30, 2008. The pre-open beta only available to Fileplanet users was released on March 5. The full open beta was released on March 6 and the North American localization of ''Mabinogi'' was released on March 27. During the 2007 Gstar game show in Seoul, South Korea, Nexon announced an Xbox 360 version of ''Mabinogi'', but the release of the console version has been indefinitely suspended after evaluations of the game through their business decisions.

Gameplay

European release

An open beta of ''Mabinogi'' Europe with two game servers Morrighan and Macha was launched in January 2010. Along with the Open Beta release came the generation 2 expansion. It was expected that generation 3 would be released when the game enters the official phase, which was accompanied by the opening of the cash shop. Nexon Europe eventually launched ''Mabinogi'' on May 26. A few months later, Nexon Europe released Generation 12 at the same time as North America in October, a large update featuring new mainstream quests and skills. Shortly after this, Nexon Europe removed 2 of the 5 available game channels in Macha, due to a lack of players in that server. Nexon Europe shut down European servers in April 2012 due to insufficient player-base growth and profit) and allowed its former users to play on North American servers with a new account and no character transfers if they wished to do so. Nexon America has since lifted the European IP blocks for ''Mabinogi''. The game service and customer support of ''Mabinogi'' were later shut down in July.

Reception

As of 2020, the game has over 20 million registered users worldwide. As of 2021, the game has grossed over in lifetime revenue.

Franchise

A prequel game for ''Mabinogi'' called ''

Vindictus ''Vindictus'' is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) created by devCAT, an internal studio of Nexon Co. Ltd., Nexon. The story follows the player character joining a group of mercenaries and going on a series o ...

'' (also known as ''Mabinogi Heroes'' in Asia) was released on January 21, 2010, by devCAT, an internal studio of Korean free-to-play game publisher

. It is a free-to-play action

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

that takes place in the same setting used in Mabinogi, but is placed chronologically several hundred years prior to the first game during a period of war and strife. ''Vindictus'' is currently released in Korea, North America, and Europe through

. ''Mabinogi II: Arena'', the sequel to ''Mabinogi Heroes'', was in development but subsequently cancelled. It was noted to feature more realistic 3D models, animation and settings, according to development diaries and press releases made by the game developer devCat. The game was previewed at G-Star 2012. The preview content depicted characters, enemies, and dungeon crawling that are similar to the original ''Mabinogi'', but focused more on instant action-based combat similar to the style of ''Vindictus'' with an emphasis of the more down-to-earth skill animations similar to that of ''Mabinogi''. By January 2014 the development of ''Mabinogi II: Arena'' was stopped.

References

External links

Official site of ''Mabinogi'' in North America, Europe & Oceania
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mabinogi (Video Game) 2004 video games Cancelled Xbox 360 games Massively multiplayer online role-playing games Nexon games Video games based on Celtic mythology Video games developed in South Korea Video games scored by Kenji Ito Video games with cel-shaded animation Windows games Windows-only games