Asda Story

Lore & Background

Asda Story was originally called MicMac Online in Japan and Korea. The Japanese MicMac service closed on September 30, 2008, after running for two years. The North American service from GamesCampus closed on August 1, 2011. The game was based on MicMac Online (also romanized as Mikku Mikku), not a separate failed game, and launched in 2008.

The game featured a Soul Mate system where two players could become Soul Mates, allowing one to help level the other's character while offline. Characters could dig for items anywhere except towns using a shovel provided from the start. Titles could be displayed above names, obtained through various actions such as picking up items, completing quests, or joining clans. The game had three first-tier classes—Warrior, Archer, and Mage—each with three skill trees, and job changes available at levels 5, 24, and 40.

The Faction War System allowed players above second job change to choose among three factions and battle for honour points and coins, split into three level brackets for balance. Character stats were incremented automatically, and socketable Sowels augmented stats.

Reader's Guide

Asda Story holds significance as a regionally adapted MMORPG that attempted to differentiate itself through its Soul Mate system, which allowed cooperative leveling even when one partner was offline. This mechanic, along with the Faction War System that catered to different level ranges, aimed to foster community and balanced competition. The game's reception was mixed: MMOHuts.com rated it 3/5, praising the Soul Mate system but criticizing recycled monster animations and few playable classes. The name caused confused reactions in the United Kingdom due to a supermarket chain also called Asda. The game's legacy includes a revamped version titled Asda R, which underwent a beta test in 2011. Asda Story's multiple regional publishers and titles—including World of Secrets in the MENA region—illustrate the global distribution challenges and localization strategies common in the late 2000s MMO market. Its eventual shutdown and the later closure of its sequel mark the end of a short-lived franchise.

Did You Know?

• The North American service closed on August 1, 2011.
• A revamped version titled Asda R had a beta test in 2011.

A Franchise Spanning Six Continents

Asda Story was the brainchild of South Korean developer MaxOn Soft, but its commercial reach extended far beyond its home region. Rather than relying on a single publisher, the title was distributed through a constellation of regional partners, each tailoring the experience to their local audience. GamesCampus handled the North American release, while Play Media Group took on European players. In Brazil, OnGame served as the publisher, and nDoors brought the game to Japanese audiences. The Middle East and North Africa region received the title through GamePower7, which localized it under the Arabic name World of Secrets (عالم الأسرار). Meanwhile, mGame managed the Korean market. Notably, in both Japan and Korea the game originally carried the working title MicMac Online before being rebranded. This multi-publisher, multi-language strategy gave Asda Story a genuinely global footprint, though it also meant that players in different regions experienced the game under different names, with different local support structures, and on different timelines for updates and eventual shutdowns.

Soul Mates and Faction Warfare

Perhaps no feature of Asda Story was more distinctive than its Soul Mate system, which let two players formally bond as partners within the game world. Once linked, a player could actively contribute to leveling up their partner's character even while that partner was logged off, with the accumulated experience stored until the absent player returned. The pairing also unlocked exclusive skills accessible only to the bonded duo, creating a layer of cooperative depth that few other MMOs of the era offered. On the competitive side, the Faction War System gave players who had completed their second job change the option to pledge allegiance to one of three rival factions. Engagements in faction warfare rewarded participants with honour points and in-game coins, which could be spent in a dedicated war shop on special items. To keep the experience fair across the skill spectrum, the system was divided into three bracketed stages covering levels 24 through 39, 40 through 59, and 60 and above, ensuring that lower and mid-level players faced opponents of comparable strength rather than being overwhelmed by end-game veterans.

Progression, Skills, and the Living World

New adventurers in Asda Story began at level 1 with the generic beginner job, a state in which no active skills were available. The first meaningful choice arrived at level 5, when players could undertake a quest from a class-specific NPC to become a Warrior, Archer, or Mage. Each path then opened two further job tiers, with advancement quests at levels 24 and 40. Leveling did not pause during these transition points, so a player could push past a job-change level without committing to the new tier. Every first-tier class featured three distinct skill trees, and progression within a tree generally required investment in lower-tier skills first, naturally encouraging most characters to specialize in one tree while dipping lightly into the others. Stat growth was handled automatically rather than through manual point allocation, and players could augment their characters by socketing items called Sowels into equipment. Outside of combat, the world offered a simple digging mechanic: every character started with a shovel, and players could excavate items anywhere outside town walls, with the quality of finds scaling to their level. Titles earned through quests, clan membership, or other in-game actions could be displayed above a character's name.

A Short Life, a Long Tail

Asda Story was built on the foundation of Mikku Mikku Online, a commercially unsuccessful MMORPG that had folded in 2007. The reworked title launched its open server on August 5, 2008, and for a time found a modest audience across its various regional markets. However, the game's lifespan proved relatively brief. The Japanese MicMac service, which had been running for two years under its original name, was shut down on September 30, 2008. The North American service operated by GamesCampus continued until August 1, 2011, before being retired. A sequel, Asda 2 Evolution, eventually took over the franchise's torch but itself closed its doors on July 15, 2015. In 2011, the developer also announced a revamped version called Asda R, which entered beta testing that same year. Critical reception was mixed; MMOHuts.com awarded the game a three-out-of-five rating, singling out the Soul Mate system as a standout while faulting the recycled monster animations and the limited number of playable classes. In the United Kingdom, the title's name generated some bemusement among players, given the well-known Asda supermarket chain sharing the same name.