The Season 12 Crystal League Championship takes place June 12-13, with Albion's top Crystal League players facing off for tremendous prizes including the ultra-rare Saber Tiger Rex Swiftclaw Skin. This time around, the tournament will be open to the top 8 Crystal League teams of the season, based on the following:

• Number of Level 9 wins
• Number of Level 8 wins
• Number of Level 7 wins
• ...and so on

Additional rules:

• Participants must use the same team and characters that qualified during the season, and one player cannot qualify with multiple teams
• Each team can allocate one substitute
• For full rules, signup info, and the final schedule, see this forum post

As always, you can watch the action all weekend long on AlbionTV, the official Albion Online Twitch Channel. Join hosts Shozen, Lewpac, and Tazzik as they bring you live coverage and commentary on these high-action fights. The reigning champions will be crowned and receive their prizes at a ceremony after the final match on Sunday.

Get ready for Albion's next high-stakes tournament, and keep an eye on our forum for updates! In the meantime, check out this highlight from last season:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/nohOEgSS-t8?rel=0

It's official: Albion Online launches worldwide on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store on June 9, 2021! This launch is the culmination of years of upgrades and improvements, and fulfills Albion Online's cross-play promise of delivering the full PC experience on mobile devices. Be sure to pre-register now to be notified when the mobile version is live!

To celebrate the launch, all players will be eligible for a cross-platform reward once the mobile version is officially released. This reward consists of the new Chimera Riding Horse Skin and Tomes of Insight worth 100,000 Fame, and will be awarded to all players who log into both the desktop and mobile version of the game after the launch on June 9.

Game Director Robin Henkys gives highlights of the mobile version and details of the launch in his latest Dev Talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfzoDXd5v5Y
Prefer a written summary? Read on...
Albion Online was conceived nine years ago with a clear goal: to create a deep and meaningful player-driven sandbox MMORPG that was as accessible as possible. The ultimate accessibility goal was for players to be able to get the full PC experience wherever they were, and on whatever platform they chose, including iOS and Android devices.


Creating Albion's mobile version presented several unique challenges:

• Making complex features accessible with the limited space available on mobile screens
• Adapting controls from mouse to touch controls to ensure mobile players can compete with PC players
• Optimizing memory usage and performance to run in the significantly more limited hardware environment of mobile devices

• Albion Online launches worldwide for both Android and iOS on June 9
• After downloading the app, all existing players will be able to freely log in to their accounts on their mobile devices
• All players automatically qualify for the special cross-play reward (the Chimera Riding Horse Skin and Tomes of Insight worth 100,000 Fame) for playing on mobile and desktop on the same account
• New players who sign up via mobile can also use their accounts to log into any of the native PC, Mac or Linux versions and will also receive the cross-platform reward

Whether you’re an experienced Albion Online player or a new player interested in starting the game, we invite you to download Albion Online on your mobile device and join us on June 9, 2021!

Who says chivalry is dead? For the entire month of June, take the Knight Challenge to collect fantastic rewards. Earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim the powerful and imposing Gallant Horse mount.
GALLANT HORSE: This month's Challenge brings back the powerful Gallant Horse, a noble mount with a combination speed boost / immunity spell that leaves foes in the dust. Ride fearlessly into the wilds of Albion on the back of this mighty steed!

AVATAR RING: Adventurers who rack up enough total Challenge Points will also earn the Knight Challenge Avatar Ring, a bold, plate-armor-themed ring that will give your avatar an aura of nobility. This non-tradable item permanently unlocks this avatar ring for one character – or you can trade it at the Vanity Merchant for one Adventurer's Token.

SEASONAL SPECIALS: All month long, reach weekly goals to unlock Knight Challenge chests. These chests contain valuable rewards like Adventurer's Tomes and Silver bags, plus knight-themed furniture like the Stone Throne, Round Table, Knight Statue, and Regal Carpet.

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. So log in, head out into the open world, gather points, and claim your rewards!

A new referral season is here! From now until August 1, refer your friends and claim your very own Shepherd Dog mount skin. This skin transforms your Direwolf base mount into a loyal and energetic canine companion – and once you've unlocked it, it can be used by all characters on your account.

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 August 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.

The newest addition to Albion's growing collection of Swiftclaw skins, the brand-new Darkfang skin, is now available in the ingame store. This premiere mount skin transforms your Swiftclaw base mount into a battle-scarred beast with black fur and fiery, glowing eyes and mouth that are sure to leave an impression on friends and foes alike.

With their ability to cover large distances quickly, Swiftclaws remain one of the most popular mounts in the world of Albion. The Darkfang adds further options for those looking to upgrade their Swiftclaw's appearance, show off in cities and the open world, and stand out in large-scale fights.

Like all mount skins, once the Darkfang is unlocked it can be used by all characters on your account. Pick one up today, and embrace the darkness!


 

Call to Arms Patch 4, AKA the Call to Arms Balance Patch, is here! First and foremost, this patch brings big changes and improvements to all types of Hellgates, including massively increased rewards, improved matchmaking, an automatic cooldown reset when invaded, and streamlined knockdown mechanics.

Additionally, Patch 4 brings a huge array of Combat Balance Changes across numerous weapon and armor lines, along with updates and improvements to Faction Warfare, the 20v20 Crystal League, the Black Zone Fame Buff, and more.
We've made numerous improvements to the overall experience in all sizes and types of Hellgates based on testing and community feedback. Here are some of the biggest changes:

• Significantly increased rewards across all Hellgate modes
• Chests now always spawn once a Hellgate is complete, whether or not PvP occurred
• Cooldowns and Health now reset after an invasion
• Removed matchmaking delay in chained Hellgates

Michael Schwahn, Albion's Combat Designer, sums up the balance changes in this patch:

"This patch aims to bring a wider variety of healing staffs into the meta while reducing the dominance of certain items in specific content, like Dagger Pairs in 2v2 Hellgates and Quarterstaffs in Corrupted Dungeons. Sustain damage provided by the axe line is also reduced, to bring them more in line with other melee weapons. This patch also offers reworks of abilities that have been out of the spotlight recently."

Here's a partial list of what's new:

• Axes: Updated numerous skills to increase importance of positioning and timing
• Cursed Staffs: Buffed various skills to improve performance in PvP
• Nature Staffs: Added a burst-heal W-slot ability
• Armors: Updated Life Steal Aura and Self-Ignition

• Improved load times between zones on all platforms
• Faction Warfare: Respawns now happen in batches to help rally forces; Bandit Assault is more frequent and unpredictable
• 20v20 Crystal League: Increased artifact rewards in final chests
• Black Zone Fame Buff persists when moving between zones
• Mobile Version: Further optimizations and UI improvements
• … and much more

Finally, for this patch, we're also trying something new: offering detailed explanations of combat balance changes under each weapon and armor type, to show the reasons and goals behind them. As always, you can check out the full list of changes, including these detailed balance change descriptions, in the official patchnotes.

The Disciples of Morgana have re-emerged from the shadows... and for the entire month of May, you can take the Morgana Challenge to collect fantastic rewards. Earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim your very own Morgana Raven mount.

MORGANA RAVEN: This month's Challenge brings back the popular Morgana Raven, a fearsome, fast-moving flying mount with an area-of-effect Fear spell. (Note: the Morgana Raven requires the same terrain pathing as all other mounts, and cannot fly over gaps or obstacles).


AVATAR RING: Adventurers who rack up enough total Challenge Points will also earn the Morgana Challenge Avatar Ring, a menacing, fiery frame that will give your avatar an aura of dread. This non-tradable item permanently unlocks this avatar ring for one character.


SEASONAL SPECIALS: All month long, reach weekly goals to unlock Morgana Challenge chests. These chests contain valuable rewards like Adventurer's Tomes and Silver bags, along with unique Morgana-themed furniture items.

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. So log in, head out into the open world, gather points, and claim your rewards!
 

It's official: Albion Online will be launching this summer on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store! We'll have more news in the coming weeks, including the official launch date, but for now you can pre-register here to be notified once the official mobile versions are available. You’ll also get a special reward for cross-platform play on mobile launch.

Additionally, German users are in luck: to test the mobile version before the wider global release, we've already launched it in Germany! (Please note: this version is still under development, with more optimizations and usability improvements to come.)

Over the past year, we've been hard at work polishing, optimizing, and streamlining the mobile version for both iOS and Android, and we'll continue adding and improving features in the leadup to the official launch. Recent improvements and optimizations to the mobile version include:

• Introduction of fully customizable mobile-specific controls and HUD
• Two unique control schemes for mobile users
• Optimized UI for mobile users with customizable settings
• ...and much more

We're very excited to announce a special reward for cross-platform play: the brand new Chimera Mount Skin! Once the official mobile version launches, any player who logs in to both the desktop and mobile version will receive this unique skin, which transforms any tier of Riding Horse base mount into a fierce mythological beast. As with past skins, unlocking the Chimera allows it to be used by all characters on your account, so sign up now to be notified once the official launch is live!

Dress to raise the dead with the new Keeper of Souls Vanity Bundle! This premiere bundle is available in the ingame store, and includes a full costume set, a costume weapon, and a macabre, bone-chilling mount skin for your Giant Stag or Moose.

The bundle includes the Phylactery of Souls, a costume weapon in the form of a large lantern-topped staff that gives off an otherworldly blue-green light, plus necromancy-themed costume skins for your character's head, cape, armor, and shoe slots. And the full set is rounded out with a mount skin that transforms your Giant Stag into an eerie, undead mount sporting ragged robes and a deer skull topped with dark, jagged antlers. As with all Stag mount skins, it can be used on both the Giant Stag and Moose base mounts.



The Keeper of Souls Bundle includes the following vanity skins:

• Keeper of Souls Cowl
• Keeper of Souls Armor
• Keeper of Souls Boots
• Keeper of Souls Cape
• Phylactery of Souls costume weapon
• Keeper of Souls mount skin for your Stag or Moose base mount

(As with past bundles, you can use all costume, weapon, and mount skins with all characters on your account, and they are never lost or destroyed. All items will be unlocked in the ingame "Appearance" menu after purchase.)

Get this premiere bundle today and let the souls of the dead surge through you!

The Call to Arms update in March brought a complete rework of Hellgates in Albion Online. Since then, we've been monitoring both player feedback and our own data, with the goal of making sure this system remains engaging, challenging, and fair for players of all levels. Today's patch brings numerous improvements and adjustments to Hellgate gameplay, including:

• Better 10v10 matchmaking
• Greatly improved matchmaking when chaining all Hellgate types
• Updated IP requirements and softcap, and mob behavior, for lethal 10v10 Hellgates
• Additional Tomes of Insight in chests after defeating an enemy team

To read more about these changes and the intent behind them, please see this forum post.

• Faction Warfare Changes: better reward progression, updated boss behavior, and improved notifications for Faction-related activities
• New chat commands for guild and party management
• Mobile improvements including increased maximum font size for chat
• Numerous bug fixes for both desktop and mobile

For a complete list of changes and fixes, check out the official patchnotes.