Kingdom Under Fire II

Did You Know?

• The player controlled a hero who could command troops, with full freedom of movement while troops followed.
• Cannons could break down castle walls, and spearmen could protect troops from cavalry.

Plot

The story of Kingdom Under Fire II takes place after the events of Circle of Doom, which occurred in the alternative dimension of the antagonist Encablossa. Set 150 years after Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders, the plot introduces the Encablossians, a faction brought from the Encablossan dimension by Regnier, a previous antagonist. The game explores wars among the Human Alliance, Dark Legion, and Encablossians for control of the continent of Bersia.

Development

Kingdom Under Fire II was announced in January 2008 for PC and consoles with a 2009 release target, blending MMO and RTS into a 'Multiplayer Online Action RTS'. The design included a single-player story mode and online multiplayer with castle sieges and field battles, plus a persistent world with guilds and territorial matches of up to 15 vs 15 players. In July 2009, an Xbox 360 version was confirmed for 2010, emphasizing the single-player campaign and online multiplayer, though an MMORTS mode was not confirmed. By March 2010, reports emerged of development troubles, with Blueside facing financial issues, unpaid salaries, and departures of staff to form a new company. Blueside and Phantagram representatives stated 90 people were working on the project, attributing delays to simultaneous console and PC development and inexperience with online games; lead developer Lee Sang Yong denied any real problem. In October 2010, the Xbox 360 version was delayed to at least Christmas 2011 due to Microsoft's billing restrictions, though the game system was said to be complete, and the budget had exceeded $20 million. In November 2010, a PlayStation 3 version was announced for a 2012 release, citing the PS3's online update suitability, while Xbox 360 online issues remained under discussion. The game was developed with a 15+ rating expectation, though developers anticipated an 18+ rating for combat and war elements. A closed beta began in late 2011. In November 2013, a PlayStation 4 version was planned, but development was scrapped in November 2019. The Chinese version entered a no-wipe closed beta in March 2017, and the Taiwanese version an open beta in July 2017. The game released in mid November 2019, and on September 17, 2021, the global version's servers were announced to close on October 26, 2021.