2020 has been... something else. It has been a year of unexpected challenges. Challenges for our own team, and challenges for the entire Albion community as a whole. Despite the adverse conditions, we've seen an incredible community-wide outpouring of creativity and resilience, which has given us a great deal of inspiration and strength as we head into the new year.

Join us as we take a look back at the highlights of this terrible, wonderful year of 2020...
2020 began with the massive Queen update, Albion's biggest content update since the game's launch in 2017. Six months in the making, Queen was nothing less than a complete re-envisioning of Albion's endgame, as well as a chance to introduce a host of quality-of-life improvements and far-reaching optimizations.



How did the Queen update revolutionize Albion Online?

• New Outlands: A completely reworked continent with higher-value zones at the center, giving guilds the option of living completely in the Outlands
• Hideouts: Autonomous homes for guilds, upgradeable with Marketplaces, Artifact Forges, Energy Manipulators, and Guild Halls
• Open-World Territory Battles: A new opportunity for large-scale combat supported by zerg balancing and the Smart Cluster Queue, allowing guilds of all sizes to compete in the open world
• The Crystal League: A new realm of high-level 5v5 fights, with the added ability to upgrade your guild's territories
• Elite Dungeons and Avalonian Armor: Face Albion's newest faction in 20-player dungeons with incredible rewards and a new armor line
• Wardrobe Skins: A long-requested way to use costume items in the open world without losing them or giving up combat readiness

By Spring 2020, much of the world was in partial or total quarantine. While these lockdowns would bring increased player numbers to the game, they also created tremendous challenges for the development process as the team adjusted to working from home.



The Staff of Hermes fundraiser launched in early April. This unique charity bundle included a limited-time vanity staff and matching avatar ring, with 100% of the proceeds going to the COVID Solidarity Fund. The community came through in force, raising an incredible €42,644.94 for those in need and looking great in the process.
On July 17, Albion celebrated its third anniversary. (Can you believe it's been three years already? The time just flies...) You celebrated this anniversary alongside us with a week-long Fame Boost and the ultimate throwback: the return of a classic Keeper dungeon from Albion's beta, Defenders of the Past.



In August, the Rise of Avalon update, the second massive update of 2020, went live. It brought with it a gigantic set of new features like the vast Roads of Avalon, Corrupted Dungeons for challenging PvE and intense single-player PvP, and a new line of Avalonian Weapons alongside improvements to UI, crafting, and cooking. In addition to bringing new depth and complexity to the world of Albion, the update introduced Chinese and Korean language support, further expanding Albion's worldwide community.

The following week, Albion saw its first-ever Crystal League tournament, soon to be known as the Crystal League Championship. Over two action-packed days, the greatest 5v5 teams in the game competed for incredible prizes including the ultra-rare Sabertooth Rex Swiftclaw skin, with a final showdown that came down to the last seconds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ81SchJaaU
In October, the Brimstone & Mist Midseason Update went live, bringing new enemies and traps in Corrupted Dungeons, increased fishing opportunities and new fish in the Roads of Avalon, updates to Disarray and the Smart Cluster Queue, crafting and butchery improvements, and much more. This update also brought delta patching to Android, allowing players to update the game without a full download - a crucial step toward the full launch of the mobile version, which was further advanced by November's Play Store beta.



Meanwhile, the ingame population continued to grow and grow, reaching an unprecedented 125,000 daily average users. This increase occurred in spite of the overall easing of worldwide lockdowns, and was due in large part to the large number of players who joined the game with the Rise of Avalon update.
2021 will bring massive updates to Albion, starting with the next major content update. Faction Warfare will be completely reworked, offering new activities, rewards, and fair and challenging large-scale battles for beginner and veteran players alike. Hellgates will also be completely re-envisioned, with varied layouts, challenging PvE, rebalanced PvP, and a new 10-versus-10 mode, while Loadouts will allow players to save their favorite gear combinations for re-gearing and Marketplace purchases.



In addition, 2021 will also bring the long-awaited official launch of the mobile version for the iOS/Google Play stores. This launch is the culmination of years of iteration and optimization for handheld devices, from combat to crafting to menu displays, and will fulfill our goal of making Albion Online the first truly cross-platform Sandbox MMORPG.

If you missed it, you can check out our final Dev Talk of 2020 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxosGPJl3f4
We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to the entire Albion Online community for making what we do possible, particularly during such a challenging and difficult year. We're very excited for what 2021 will bring to the world of Albion – Happy New Year, and we'll see you ingame!

- Your Albion Online Team

2020 was Albion's biggest year yet, with numerous patches and updates, a host of major new features, and an ever-growing player population. In the final Dev Talk of the year, Game Director Robin Henkys looks back at the past year in the world of Albion before looking ahead to what's coming in 2021.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxosGPJl3f4&feature=emb_logo
To take the year-end survey mentioned in the video, click here.

No time to watch the video, or prefer a written summary? Then read on...
The past year brought some major changes, improvements, and new features to the world of Albion:

• Complete Outlands overhaul
• Introduction of Hideouts
• Open-World Territory Battles
• Avalonians and Elite dungeons
• Crystal League
• Avalonian Weapons and Armor
• Roads of Avalon
• Wardrobe Skins
• Corrupted Dungeons
• Outlands Banks
• Updated UIs
• 2 new languages
• Combat Balance Improvements
• Mobile improvements: New mobile HUD and control scheme, auto-updating, beta of the Google Play Store version
• 20v20 Crystal League battles and other Season 11 adjustments

In total we released 29 updates and patches with the majority happening out of our homes. Albion now consistently has over 500,000 active players every month, and player numbers are still growing.
Major changes coming in the next year include:

• A complete Faction Warfare rework to bring open-world warfare to every player
• Improving Hellgates to make fair, smaller-scale PvP widely accessible and rewarding
• Loadouts, which allow you to save, share and quick-equip item sets on your character

Improvements to the open world and world design of Albion:

• Reworking the fundamental building blocks of the world
• Improving visual quality while reducing dead ends and nonsensical layouts
• Improving open-world locations like large static dungeons, making them high-value hotspots
• Making treasures appear less predictably to trigger smaller-scale fights as intended
• Improving the world map with more information about ongoing activities

Quality-of-Life Improvements:

• Loadouts for quick-equipping items
• Additional functionality to quick-buy Loadouts from Marketplaces
• Adding better information about actual costs to crafting UIs
• Tackling long-standing convenience issues like a “Use All” functionality for Tomes and Silver bags

Combat improvements:

• Giving each type of mount, even non-rare mounts, their own spells and abilities
• Further expansion of equipment choices available to players

Mobile version:

• 2021 will be the year Albion Online officially releases for phones and tablets
• Will launch on both iOS and the Google Play Store

Additional goals:

• Long-needed Castle improvements
• Siege equipment and defensive structures
• Roaming mob improvements
• Additional content and exploration goals for the Roads of Avalon

Game systems:

• Expansion of options and visual improvements for Destiny Board
• Trade contracts allowing players to offer Silver for item delivery
• Revisiting the role of laborers and offering additional features and variety on player islands
• Legendary item crafting to leave a permanent mark in the world of Albion
• New mounts and equipment (gathering mounts, potential new resource tier)

Goals for PvE, guild leaders, and data enthusiasts:

• More lore and quests
• Special collectible rewards for completing quests
• Increased capabilities for guild management
• Improved Web API

For guilds in general, we want to expand on Hideouts with additional open-world buildings guilds could use to protect territories, collect resources or provide combat support in the open world. And for beginning players, we want to introduce a mentoring program called the Albion Academy.
As usual at the end of the year, we’re looking for your opinions about Albion Online. What are we doing well? What do we need to improve? And what features would you like to see? You can tell us in our end-of-year survey which we’ll be sending to active players who have opted-in to receive the newsletter in the coming weeks, or fill out our Roadmap Survey here.

Your feedback will help us decide which features to prioritize as we continue our journey to make Albion Online the best Sandbox MMORPG in the world.

Thank you for your continued support, and we'll see you in 2021!

Decorations fill the cities, the Yuletide Challenge is in full swing, and the mysterious Uncle Frost can be found lurking in Albion's dungeons. And for one week, the Mists of Albion will return, granting an additional 25% Fame! Read on for details...


The mysterious spirit known as Uncle Frost – sometimes benevolent, sometimes evil – has returned to Albion. Last year he was only in Keeper dungeons, but now he can appear in Solo and Group Randomized Dungeons of all factions. Watch for Christmas trees near the dungeon's end, and defeat him for a chance at special loot including Snowballs, Yule-themed items, and even the rare Yule Stag mount skin!


To help celebrate (and show there are no hard feelings), Uncle Frost has sent fireworks and snowballs to all players. To claim them, log into the game before December 30, 2020 at 10:00 UTC. Details:

• Rewards will be attached to an in-game mail, and consist of:
  • Fireworks (3 colors)
  • Snowballs
• Reward will be sent to all characters who log in during this period and have completed the tutorial

Claim your rewards, then hit the streets of Albion to launch some fireworks or start a snowball fight!


Finally, we're rounding out the year with a week-long Fame Boost. Log in between December 23 10:00 UTC and December 30 10:00 UTC for the automatic Mists of Albion buff, which grants an additional 25% Fame for all activities. It's the perfect time to unlock another gathering tier or max out a weapon line! (Note: Fame Boosts do not apply to Fame from Tomes, and do not accelerate Adventurer or Guild Challenge progress.)



As the year winds down, we want to thank the Albion community for making the world of Albion more vibrant than ever. Stay tuned for a year-end wrapup covering the major events of 2020!

Albion's third premier costume set, the Mage Adventurer Bundle, is now available! This newest bundle includes ten vanity unlocks to give your character the look of a shrewd, battle-hardened mage. All the included items can be used on male or female characters, with unique looks (and even unique voices) for each.

Like the Rogue and Knight Bundles, this new bundle also includes an Armored Horse Mount Skin with a matching theme. On top of that, it also includes guild versions of the Mage Adventurer hat, armor, cape, and mount skin that allow you to show off your currently active guild logo and colors.

The centerpiece of the Mage Adventurer Bundle is the Spellbook, a main-hand costume weapon. The Spellbook uses the primary weapon slot, and like all other vanity weapon items with unique spells, its spells can be toggled on or off with a special button next to the spell icons.

Magical Fireworks:


Wings of Magic:

The full bundle is available in the ingame store and includes all Mage Adventurer regular and guild skin options:

• Mage Adventurer's Hat, Armor, Boots, and Cape
• Mage Adventurer's Spellbook with 2 Premium Emotes
• Mage Adventurer's Armored Horse Skin
• Mage Adventurer's Guild Hat
• Mage Adventurer's Guild Armor
• Mage Adventurer's Guild Cape
• Mage Adventurer's Guild Armored Horse Skin

This option offers the best value for those who want all Mage Adventurer items.


A brand-new Swiftclaw mount skin, the Miststalker, is now available in the ingame store. Inspired by the ancient beasts found in the Roads of Avalon, the Miststalker turns your Swiftclaw mount into a mystical, mist-hued creature with glowing blue eyes.

Swiftclaws have long been a favorite mount of both group and solo players looking to cover large distances quickly, with large battles seeing dozens of them in use at once. The Miststalker is the perfect option for those looking to upgrade their Swiftclaw's appearance and stand out from the pack.

Like all mount skins, once the Miststalker is unlocked it can be used by all characters on your account forever. Pick it up today and ride out into the wilds of Albion!

Saturday marks the beginning of Albion's eleventh Guild Season, which brings the new 20v20 Crystal League, as well as Point Balancing and Daily Limits for Crystal League matches, major updates to World Boss Zones and Castle Scoring, and an incredible new battle mount, the Roving Bastion, as a season reward for ranking guilds.

Guilds that reach a high enough rank can claim fantastic rewards including an avatar, avatar ring, and the mighty Roving Bastion mount. While the final stats are subject to change, it will be a support battle mount with a powerful push ability that knocks back enemy forces away, allowing armies to break through enemy lines. It will also have a shield aura ability that offers protection against damage and displacement effects to allies. This mount will be awarded to guilds who reach Silver Rank or higher during Season 11, with increasingly higher stats and epic appearance with each successive tier.

The winning guild will receive a statue among the past Guild Season winners in Conquerors' Hall, accessible via all major cities. Qualifying guilds will also receive a Fame Bonus and furniture items, as listed in the tables below:




This Season introduces the 20v20 Crystal League, allowing all players to join fair and exciting 20v20 battles. Match rules are similar to the 5v5 League, but with an entirely new map similar to the old city fight map. As in the 5v5 League, Level 1 matches are knockdown only and offer perfect training for newcomers; risks and rewards increase greatly with each subsequent level, culminating in a final Level 6 match at the end of the season.



Alongside the new 20v20 league, Crystal League Season Points have been rebalanced, and a new Daily Point Limit for the Crystal League has been implemented.

Season 11 also brings other far-reaching changes and improvements to open-world guild warfare in Albion:

• World Boss Zone Improvements to make these zones into valuable Fame Farming hotspots and lead to more midsize open-world fights
• Castle Scoring Changes and Minimum Distance Increase to split large forces and reduce overcrowded clusters
• Ability to Skip Overcrowded Clusters and jump directly to an adjoining cluster to join the fight

Last but not least, this season will also include numerous combat balance changes launched with Patch 10. For more details on these changes, click here.
The action kicks off on AlbionTV this Saturday, December 5 at 17:30 UTC, when hosts Shozenwon, Lewpac and Bogul bring you full coverage of Invasion Day.



At 18:00 UTC, guilds can claim territories and launch attacks. Those in the North and South American time zones can also tune in for the second round of territory resets on Sunday, December 6 at 00:30 UTC with hosts Shozenwon, Robinhoodrs and Bogul covering the next round of claimable territories starting at 01:00 UTC. All open-world fights are broadcast live with a 15-minute delay.

For the complete Season 11 schedule, check out this forum post.

Rise of Avalon Patch 10, AKA the Season 11 Patch, is now live. This patch brings major changes and improvements to guild warfare in Albion, starting with the Season 11 kickoff on Saturday, December 5.

Here's an overview of what's new:
20v20 Crystal League battles allow players of all levels to participate in thrilling 20v20 battles. Level 1 battles are knockdown only, providing the perfect training ground for newer players, while higher-level fights are full loot, with correspondingly higher rewards. The 20v20 league has 6 levels, with the final Level 6 match taking place at the end of the season.


Season Points for midlevel Crystal League matches have been rebalanced, and there is now a daily limit for Season Points earned from the Crystal League. This limit makes it less desirable to accumulate elite Crystal League teams in one guild and instead creates an incentive for top teams to spread across various guilds.
When a cluster is overcrowded and the Smart Cluster Queue activates, players can now either join the queue or skip the overcrowded cluster entirely. Additionally, the distance players can move from the entrance before being kicked from the queue has been greatly increased.


Castle scoring now starts at 00:00 UTC regardless of a zone's prime time, and Castles and Castle Outposts give points every 6 and 3 hours respectively. Additionally, Castles are now at least 4 zones apart, making it harder for larger guilds to defend numerous objectives simultaneously.
Fame for all Elite mobs in World Boss Raid Zones, including World Bosses themselves, has been massively increased. World Bosses now spawn once per hour instead of once per day, and killing them gives a 20% Fame buff within the same cluster. Elite mobs in these zones also respawn much faster, and their distribution within the zones has been updated.

• Axes get a new Q-slot ability, Rending Rage, to improve mobility and crowd control
• Various buffs for Axes, Spears, and Arcane Staffs
• Cooldown reductions for Royal Robe and Royal Armor
• Timers for point scoring and treasures in Castles and Castle Outposts now display as both countdowns and fixed UTC time
• Numerous bug fixes

For the full list of changes, check out the official patchnotes.

A new referral season is here! From now until February 1, refer your friends and claim your very own Unicorn mount skin. This skin transforms your Riding Horse base mount into a mighty, mythical Unicorn – and once you've unlocked it, it can be used by all characters on your account forever.

You can also earn huge amounts of Fame for your third and fifth referrals: three referrals scores you a T7 Pile of Tomes worth 100,000 Fame, and five referrals gets you a T8 Pile of Tomes granting a colossal 200,000 Fame. And as always, your first-ever referral grants an additional T8 Pile of Tomes along with the mount skin.

The current referral season lasts until maintenance on February 1, so you've got until then to refer your friends and claim your rewards.

• Send your referral link, which you can find here, to a friend. (You must be logged into your account on the website to view this page.)
• Your friend registers an account and starts playing Albion Online (preferably along with you!).
• The first time your friend purchases at least 30 days of Premium, they will trigger a reward for you.
• On top of that, for your very first referral ever, you'll receive a T8 Recruiter's Pile of Tomes, worth a whopping 200,000 Fame.

Winter has returned to Albion, and the Yuletide Challenge is back! For the entire month of December, earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests, and earn rewards like an avatar ring, new and classic furniture items, and the beloved Snow Husky mount.
SNOW HUSKY: You've got another chance to claim the charming Snow Husky, a handsome canine companion that will carry you through Albion's harshest terrain. Along with its strong base move speed, its Hunting Instinct spell gives a short but powerful speed burst.

AVATAR RING: Along with the Snow Husky, adventurers who reach this month's total point goal will unlock the Yuletide Challenge Ring, which gives your avatar a cheery holiday look any time of year. And remember: unclaimed Adventurer's Challenge Rings can always be traded in for Adventurer's Tokens at the Vanity Merchant!

SEASONAL SPECIALS: Unlock Yuletide Challenge chests to get a mix of holiday-themed prizes, along with goodies like Silver, Tomes of Insight, treasures and resources. Each chest has a chance to give classic Yuletide decorations like Presents and Decorated Trees as well as four brand-new items: the Yuletide Candle, Wreath, Lantern, and Candy Boot!

As always, you can earn Challenge Points by gathering, fishing, farming, and killing monsters. Points count simultaneously toward a daily bonus, a weekly unlockable chest, and the monthly mount and avatar ring reward. So log in, head out into the open world, gather points, and claim these rewards while they last!

Albion Online's 11th Guild Season starts on Saturday, December 5. This season will bring major new features along with changes to existing systems. In our newest Dev Talk, Combat Designer Michael Schwahn discusses these changes and how they will affect guild warfare in Albion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Do-WTEBSQw
No time to watch or prefer a written summary? Then read on...
This Season introduces the 20v20 Crystal League, allowing all players to join fair and exciting 20v20 battles.

• Tokens can be bought at the Energy Manipulator and used for one of 3 slots each day
• Match rules are similar to the 5v5 League, where both teams need to control and hold more orbs than the enemy
• 20v20 matches will use an entirely new map with a layout similar to the old city fight map
• As in the 5v5 League, Level 1 matches are knockdown only and offer perfect training for newcomers
• High-stakes, full-loot matches are also available, increasing toward the end of the season

To make sure the Crystal League doesn't dominate the entire season at the expense of other activities, we're rebalancing its Season Point rewards and introducing a daily limit for Season Points gained via Crystal League. The limits are separate for 5v5 and 20v20 matches, and vary based on the amount of points available on a given day. This keeps high-level matches rewarding while ensuring seasons can’t be won solely via elite Crystal League squads.


To add high-value open world objectives, we have overhauled World Boss Raid Zones:

• World Bosses now spawn every hour
• Defeating a World Boss gives every team member a PvE Fame buff while remaining in the zone, as an additional incentive for groups to stand their ground when they meet an enemy group
• To further make these areas into Fame Farming hotspots, their Elite mobs are now much stronger, but also way more rewarding, and they respawn much faster
• These spots are limited, which should lead to more small and midsized open-world fights

With Season 11, Castle and Castle Outpost timers will be the same for all clusters in the game. This means treasure spawning and scoring now occur independently of the cluster prime time.

• Castles score every 6 hours
• Castle Outposts score every 3 hours
• Castle Chests appear on Saturdays at 12:00 and 18:00 UTC and Sundays at 00:00 UTC
• Castle Outpost Chests appear every 6 hours

We've also increased distances between Castles by removing tunnels and cluster connections to ensure they are always at least four zones apart.

These changes will put pressure on bigger power blocks to split their forces if they want to contest more than one objective. This will hopefully lead to fewer overcrowded cluster battles.
The Cluster Queue was originally designed as a tool to handle edge cases with too many players, but queued battles have become more and more frequent and many battles now revolve around this system. This is especially frustrating for players who might not get a chance to participate in the fight at all.

To improve this, players can now skip overcrowded clusters. You can now select any connected entrance to jump to, and find new battles instead of waiting outside as a potential backup. This essentially allows two battles at once: one in the overcrowded cluster, and another between queued players.

The queue entrance range will also increase, letting players travel further without leaving the queue. And if two clusters in a row are overcrowded, you can skip through both.


Finally, for Season 11 we will also roll out a combat balance update. This includes the new Axe ability Rending Rage, a combo where you swing your blade and then leap forward and root the enemy. This gives Axes a Q-slot option for mobility and crowd control. This patch also contains buffs for Axes, Spears and Arcane Staffs along with various adjustments to other abilities.

There are quite a lot of changes in Season 11, and we are excited to see how players interact with them. Hopefully we'll see some fierce competition for the top spots this season.

Thanks for watching!

The wait is almost over: the Season 10 Crystal League Championship is this weekend! Starting Saturday at 17:00 UTC, tune in to AlbionTV to watch all the action live. Winners will receive huge Gold rewards and rare mounts, with the first-place team walking away with the ultra-rare Sabertooth Rex Swiftclaw Skin.

Join hosts Shozen, Lewpac, and Tazzik as they bring you live coverage and commentary on these high-action fights. Here's the weekend's schedule:

• Saturday, November 28: 17:00 - 20:30 UTC
• Sunday, November 29: 17:00 - 22:15 UTC

(Note: the above end times are approximate, depending on how long matches run.)

For team breakdowns, full rules, and the final schedule, keep an eye on this forum post.