XL Games

XL Games (stylized as XLGAMES) is a South Korean game developer founded in 2003 by Jake Song. The studio is best known for creating the ArcheAge franchise. Headquarters are in Seoul, with a satellite office formerly in Austin, Texas.

History

Song founded XL Games after leaving NCSoft, where he had created Lineage. He brought several former Lineage team members with him. The studio's first project was XLRacer, a persistent racing game that Song later described as a "miserable failure." Development of ArcheAge began in 2006.

Projects

• XLRacer - A persistent online racing game (cancelled/failed)

• ArcheAge (2013) - The studio's flagship MMORPG, running for 12 years

• Civilization Online - An MMO adaptation of the Civilization franchise developed in partnership with 2K Games / Take-Two Interactive using CryENGINE. Eventually cancelled.

• ArcheVille - A mobile/casual spinoff

• ArcheAge War - A mobile game released March 2023, which led to a lawsuit from NCSoft alleging UI similarities to Lineage 2M

• ArcheAge Chronicles - Currently in development on Unreal Engine 5

Current leadership

After Jake Song's departure in January 2025, ArcheAge Chronicles development is led by Executive Producer Ham Yong-jin and a team of experienced leads across design, narrative, systems, and live operations.

NCSoft lawsuit

On April 5, 2023, NCSoft sued Kakao Games and XL Games, claiming ArcheAge War plagiarized Lineage 2M's UI design and weapon enhancement system. NCSoft sought 1.1 billion won (roughly $830,000) in damages. Kakao Games argued the similarities were common genre conventions.