So, About That RaiderZ Re-Launch..

I never played RaiderZ when it was published by Perfect World Entertainment. I knew it existed, but at the time I was far too invested in TERA – which honestly was a lot better both graphically and mechanically.
But RaiderZ still had its place – just like most MMORPGs do. It launched initially in 2012 and was subsequently shut down in 2015, after only 3 years.
Since then, private servers have both risen and been buried trying to capture the playerbase that longs to experience what the game once offered to no avail.
Perfect World Entertainment had no intention of closing RaiderZ down – I’m unsure of exactly how well the game was doing at the time of their closure but the decision was mostly out of their hands.
See, Perfect World were the Western publishers of the game, not the developers. MAIET Entertainment, the South Korean studio, were the developers.
MAIET specifically ceased operations earlier in the year leaving Perfect World with.. well, pretty much nothing. There would be no new content added, no new updates, nothing at all.
So when the developers behind the game you’re publishing all but give up on the game.. realistically all you have to do is either allow the game to become stagnant or give up on all together, and that’s what happened.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. Since MAIET dissolved in 2015, they actually gave all rights to their games: GunZ and RaiderZ to Masangsoft, another South Korean developer.
Checking their website they state that they’re both a developer and publisher that specializes in PC, mobile and VR titles. They publish several MMOs: DK Online, Pristontale and a couple non-MMOs.
But most importantly – and specifically with regards to RaiderZ, Masangsoft had announced their intention of re-releasing RaiderZ – an overhauled, completely revamped version of the game.
Allow me to elaborate on that a little. See, RaiderZ is an Action MMORPG – it utilized a full action combat system like Black Desert.
It also employed an interesting class system that provided players the unique opportunity to equip various weapons found scattered throughout the game-world.
These would alter your skills, your active weapon, and would, in essence, allow for you to play as an entirely different class temporarily.
That was one of the game’s unique aspects – something that to this day has not been replicated.. to my knowledge, anyway.
Masangsoft stated that they were aware these two features were important and that they were looking to actually significantly enhance them to better fit today’s market.
The changes proposed were actually interesting to me as I didn’t know how exactly they’d go about doing it since while they were opting to merely “enhance” the combat, they were going to completely change the class-system all together.
This would provide a stronger sense of class identity, I guess, while also limiting exactly how much freedom you had to do what you want.

The only version of RaiderZ I ever played was WildRaiderZ. That was a private server that at the time had pretty decent rates and was an accurately emulated server.
I’d wanted to play the official version but I just never had the opportunity to.
Nevertheless, Masangsoft announced that they would be reviving and remastering the game.. last year? The year before? I think it was sometime in 2017.
They went ahead and released a roadmap detailing specifically what they had planned and.. then went silent.
It’s been a year? Roughly a year or so since Masangsoft said anything pertaining to the game. There have been no announcements, no news, no social media posts stating that they’re even still actively working on the game.
Which is pretty disconcerting. When a game – and this applies even more so to MMOs – goes completely radio silent for a year.. it’s likely that development on it has come to a halt.

Now I’m not saying that the game is 100% confirmed to be cancelled or shut down.
What I’m saying is that it seems as though Masangsoft has a larger focus on other things right now.
Do you guys recall DK Online – an MMO that released back in March this year? Yeah, it launched to incredibly poor reception, with reviews on Steam being “mostly negative,” and that was completely valid.
The game was absolute trash and you know who published it? Yup, Masangsoft.
DK Online was released back in 2013 under Aeria Games if I recall, and after it shut down, Masangsoft opted to re-publish it in 2019 as a “completely remastered game.”
Obviously DK took precedence over RaiderZ – since DK was likely a lot easier to monetize in the short-term.
Will history repeat itself with regards to RaiderZ? Maybe. Masangsoft seem to be the Gamigo of South Korea – purchasing dead games and then keeping them alive to make as much money as they can off of them.
While I feel for RaiderZ fans, not having an official home to play in, I honestly wouldn’t want to see what Masangsoft’s end result could potentially be.

Yes, the game is likely dead in the water now. It’s sad to see and hear, but it might be for the best.