What is Lost Ark?

February 8, 2022

Lost Ark, the new massively multiplayer online role-playing game from Amazon Games and Smilegate, officially launches in North America and Europe on Feb. 11, bringing the Korean fantasy hit to a global audience for the first time. But the free-to-play fantasy PC game is already a hit on Steam — where various Founder’s Packs that grant extra in-game items and early access to the game are topping the sales charts — and Twitch — where more than a million people are currently watching other people play Lost Ark to earn in-game items, or Twitch Drops.

Lost Ark is an isometric action RPG, similar to Blizzard’s Diablo games, only the spells are bigger, the warriors are hotter, and everything feels cranked up to 11 (yes, the hero in the key art above is carrying a holy minigun outfitted with a chainsaw bayonet). Lost Ark offers 15 playable classes — six main classes, plus nine advanced sub-classes — to adventure through the world of Arkesia with, slaying demonic hordes with flourish and flair along the way. You can fight with heavy artillery or you can be a monster-shredding musician in Lost Ark. And if you’ve ever dreamed of having Dante (you know, from the Devil May Cry series) as a playable class in a Diablo game, this might be your scene.

Like the Diablo games and World of Warcraft, Lost Ark features gear to collect and customize, as well as skill customization and skill progression. Players can also take part in side activities, like foraging, fishing, hunting, logging, archaeology, mining, and crafting, and seasonal events. Players can not only customize the look of their characters, but their strongholds as well.

In addition to a cinematic story-driven main campaign with cooperative PvE combat and plenty of side quests, Lost Ark players can also engage in group raids, including the game’s “extremely challenging” Legion Raids. There’s also competitive PvP (1v1 and 3v3) in the game’s closed-arena Duels.

While Lost Ark officially launches this Friday, players can get a three-day head start by paying. Amazon Games is selling four Founder’s Packs: Bronze ($14.99), Silver ($24.99), Gold ($49.99), and Platinum ($99.99). Impressively, it’s the most-expensive Platinum Founder’s Pack that players are buying the most on Steam, followed by the cheapest.

Where did Lost Ark come from?

Lost Ark originally launched in South Korea in 2019 and was developed by Smilegate, the company behind the hugely popular first-person shooter Crossfire — a Western version of that game, Crossfire X comes to Xbox this week. After launching in Japan and Russia, Amazon Games picked up Lost Ark for release in North America and Europe, and has run multiple beta tests ahead of launch. Amazon’s release of Lost Ark features written and spoken dialogue in English, French, German, and Spanish.

Lost Ark looks like it will be another hit for Amazon Games, which initially stumbled with games like Crucible and Breakaway, but found success with its MMO New World last year.

How much does Lost Ark cost?

On Steam, Lost Ark is free-to-play, and Amazon Games is selling multiple Founder’s Packs full of digital extras, including consumable items, mounts, pets, in-game currency, equipment, and skins. Here’s what’s included in each pack: