According to an article on Dutch website, Gamez.nl, Spellborn Works, the Dutch developers behind The Chronicles of Spellborn are now bankrupt.
This news leaves the future of The Chronicles of Spellborn hanging in the air. The article does mention a rumor that Frogster Asia would transform the title into a free-to-play title in order to keep it running, but there doesn't appear to be anything to substantiate that at the moment.
UPDATE: The "rumor" has been confirmed in a press release issued by Frogster.
You can find the press release below:
Free-to-Play-Version of The Chronicles of Spellborn scheduled for release in 2010
Berlin, 30.06.2009: The Chronicles of Spellborn is going go be re-designed into a freeto-play version in conduct of its publisher Frogster. The reorientation of the revenue model will be accompanied by fundamental enhancements of the game-play concept and game mechanics of the innovative fantasy online role-playing game. The further development will be carried out through a joint venture between the developer Spellborn NV and Frogster Asia Co., Ltd in Korea, the Korean subsidiary of Frogster bringing in its expertise in the field of free-to-play and microtransactions.
After the re-development, the current subscription model will be switched to a free-to-play system supported by micro-transactions. This will open the vast game world of The Chronicles of Spellborn with its rich lore and game-play in its entirety without level cap to all interested players. Until then, the European and US American live version of the online world will be operated in its current form via the subscription service. At the point where the new version is released, any unused subscriptions will be credited to the accounts of the respective subscribers.
The full story is available here (in Dutch) for a Google translated version, go here.
The F2P changeover announcement can be found here.
