Kingdom Under Fire 2 is still happening, and it appears to be launching before the end of this year for PC in both Europe and North America. "Better late than never" is the expression that comes to mind, though we'll need to wait and see how accurate that is in this case.
For those who have forgotten, and those who have never heard of this game, Kingdom Under Fire 2 is a Korean MMO revealed over a decade ago in 2008. After its announcement, it became less and less discussed over the years, until it dropped off the radar of virtually every video game player in Western markets.
It will be interesting to see how the gameplay works. A key component of the game is shown to be the commanding of an army, which seems at odds with most MMOs, which feature characters as single individuals with a range of abilities. And yet, players will also level their individual characters who look far more powerful than anyone in their armies.
There is much to say about the visuals as well, at least from the video we have available. Combat appears to be a cross between an RTS, with groups of nameless soldiers walking about with little to differentiate them, and musou-style gameplay (a la Hyrule Warriors,) with one hero running into a swarm of opposing army forces.
Part of the delay appears to have been due to publishing rights outside of the parts of Asia that saw a launch in 2010. Gameforge announced recently that it has now acquired those publishing rights to Kingdom Under Fire 2, which is why we're seeing a release later on this year in Western markets.
While over a decade from announcement to release sounds like a long time, and it is, Kingdom Under Fire 2 is not alone. Many games undergo significant shifts in their original deployment schedule, sometimes spending years in a sort of development purgatory with no way out, or being cancelled altogether.
Resident Evil 4 is one example, as it was announced in 1999, then delayed over and over again until finally seeing a formal release in 2005. While that's an example of a fantastic game that was worth the wait, we also have seen titles take a long time only to disappoint players. Spore is a notorious example, as it took over eight years to release to much hype, but in the end was a letdown.
For fans seeking the latest information on Kingdom Under Fire 2, Gameforge has created a Facebook page for that very purpose.