A major update for both new and experienced players looking to continue their adventures together in Wizard101
AUSTIN, Texas, Apr. 28, 2021 — KingsIsle Entertainment, a proven MMO hitmaker, invites gamers to experience their latest update to Wizard101. Players will find new bosses to defeat, new team-based events with special rewards to acquire for all participants, and new ‘Meet Your Fellow Wizards’ socialization features that make it easier than ever to find other players.
“Wizard101 has always been about bringing players together of all ages to explore the worlds of the Spiral. We’re now enhancing the journey with exciting new boss fights that have awesome rewards and new ways for players to meet up.” said Leah Ruben, KingsIsle Game Director.
In addition to expanding combat for adventurous PvE players, this update also further supports PvP balance and matchmaking – resulting in better quality matches that players get into faster and thus more easily obtain the lucrative event rewards and player status.
“We’re constantly working directly with the community to fine tune combat balance and ensure an equally satisfying experience for both PvE and PvP participants.” – Ben Durbin, KingsIsle Design Lead.
A complete overview of the Spring Update is posted on Wizard101.com.
About Wizard101
Featuring four times as much content since it was first introduced in 2008, Wizard101 players keep coming back for engaging story-driven gameplay across 19 worlds, deep combat, pet systems, and passionate community. Over more than twelve years, Wizard101 has continued to evolve and entertain more than fifty million players.
Wizard101 receives major updates on a regular basis in the spring, summer, and fall seasons. The game is available from Wizard101.com or on Steam.
About KingsIsle Entertainment
KingsIsle Entertainment, established in 2005, is a proven MMO hit-maker with 50+ million registered users across both our MMOs with vibrant and strong communities. Since its foundation, Kingsisle has devoted itself to family-friendly gameplay, and has built an audience that reaches from pre-tweens to their grandparents. Our award-winning game Wizard101 is currently in its 13th year and Pirate101 is in its ninth.
About gamigo group
The gamigo group is one of the leading publishers of online and mobile games in Europe and North America. The company’s diverse game portfolio includes free-to-play titles such as ArcheAge, RIFT, Trove and Aura Kingdom, as well as the recently launched buy-to-play game ArcheAge: Unchained. Counting more than 400 employees, gamigo is one of the largest German companies in the gaming industry. Besides its 5 german locations in Hamburg (HQ), Berlin, Cologne, Münster, and Darmstadt, the gamigo group also has branches in Warsaw (Poland), Istanbul (Turkey), New York, Redwood City, Austin, Bellevue (US), and Seoul (South Korea). In addition to gamigo AG, the group includes the subsidiaries WildTangent, Aeria Games, Verve, and Mediakraft Networks as well as the brands Infernum, Intenium, Looki, and Poged. The company strives to grow not only organically, but also through acquisitions. Since 2013, it has made more than 25 acquisitions, including titles, gaming and technology companies as well as individual game assets.
My Dear KingsIsle Community,
The beginning of a new year is always a wonderful time, albeit a little too cold for my tastes as a Pyromancer, but as each day gets longer the sun gets brighter, and soon Spring will be here before we know it! Speaking of new beginnings, some of you may have seen the press release about the acquisition of KingsIsle by Gamigo. This is certainly big news, and I wanted to chat about what that means and answer some of the questions that you may have.
First of all, let me assure you that the friendly faces that you’ve come to know and love aren’t changing and we’re full steam ahead on the next updates and laying the foundation for the year to come. Ratbeard and Mattnetic are agonizing over a plethora of spreadsheets and math. The illustrious Jeff Toney is doodling away and you should see some of the astounding things Adam Roush is concepting for the next update! Decius is continuing to curate and maintain our Crown Shop and promotion plan, and you will be able to continue to beg him on twitter for the next Crowns Sale as usual. Sparck/Bat Masterson will be coordinating many KI Lives to come, and Vanessa Mythdust will be continuing to hone her art of the pun. We’re still here, we’re still KingsIsle, and we’re not planning on slowing down.
Gamigo is enthusiastic about the same things we have always been excited about at KingsIsle. First and foremost, we have the best community out there. Period. We’ve discussed how helpful and positive y’all are, they’re quite impressed! Second, it’s a very rare and precious thing for an MMO game to be thriving as it approaches it’s teenage years, which is certainly in part because of you – our amazing community. Gamigo is excited to become a part of such a wonderous phenomenon. In 2020’s Producer’s letters, I spoke in length about gearing Wizard101 up for the next decade with various overhauls and revamps. Gamigo and the team have talked about the long view, how we’re in this to keep the game thriving through the next ten anniversaries and beyond, and we both endeavor to make that happen. We’re committed to keeping the updates flowing, and… there may be some exciting opportunities outside of what you’ve come to expect. Stay tuned.
[Previous event offer mentioned here has expired]
Continue to have fun, be the amazing community you already are, and keep your eyes peeled as we’ll soon be able to start talking about the next update as we get closer to that Test Realm date!
January 22, 2021 Update:
Hi KI Community! I wanted to follow up with a quick note on some of the things buzzing around since the acquisition.
First of all, there are no plans for Wizard101 or Pirate101 to go entirely Free to Play because of this. We’re sticking with our current model for the foreseeable future.
Second, I’ve talked at length how proud I am to be part of a community that has grown up with us. Our target demographic when we first launched in 2008 was tweens and teens, Pirate skewing a touch older in 2012, but not much. We happily found that folks older and younger loved our games as well. A growing amount of you that have been with us for the long haul are no longer in that age range, but one thing our MMOs were built on was to be a safe and inclusive online space for all ages. That is not changing. Our very identity is that we are a family friendly game for everyone, the kind of game that kids and parents can play together.
Lastly, we’re INCREDIBLY excited for those “exciting opportunities” I mentioned, but there’s nothing I can announce right now. First and foremost, we’re getting the KI team integrated with our friends at Gamigo, while our update schedule remains exactly as planned a week ago. From there, we’ll start working on translating some of our other ideas to actual working plans.
One of those ideas is to have more regular updates to Pirate101. I’m excited about the possibilities but this is something that will take some planning and coordination with Gamigo (and, frankly, more developers than we have now) to make happen.
These things take time, so please be patient with us, and stay tuned. We’ll talk more about this on KI Live, and through the coming months as progress progresses!
See you in the Spiral,
Leah “Professor Falmea” Ruben
Lead Producer of MMO Content
Happy Holidays…from us to you! Our community means a lot to us, and we want to show how much! Enjoy these special messages from various members of the KingsIsle team – all about how YOU have impacted us and our games.
“Thank you all for enjoying our games this year. Your patience and support while we navigate these unprecedented times is appreciated and valued. I hope you all are able to find comfort, support, and joy during this holiday season. Stay well!” – Renee Wooten, Associate Producer (and her dog Sadie)
“Over this past year I loved interacting with you all on KI Live and seeing your responses to my producer’s letters. Karamelle is just the start of Arc 4, so keep that feedback coming in 2021 to help us make the magic happen!” – Professor Falmea, Lead Producer
“We’ve laughed together (oh so many story quips in our games), we’ve cried together (when being unexpected defeated by a boss), and we’ve celebrated with dance and song at community house parties (three cheers to all your fantastical and magical housing designs!).
I’ve been with KingsIsle and this amazing community for a couple of years now, yet I feel like we’ve been friends forever. I’ve met so many dedicated Wizards and Pirates that have helped both myself get introduced to all the Spiral has to offer, but most importantly, have helped so many others to enjoy the games to their fullest.
Please feel free to reach out to me at any time to ask questions, express your concerns about a game feature, or just to chat. It’s what I am here for. Here’s to what’s going to be a great 2021 and many more years to come!” – Sparck, Community Manager
“The KingsIsle community will always have a special place in my heart. After all, being a part of it and meeting all the incredible people I did is part of the reason why I now get to work on the games I love at KingsIsle! There are so many different aspects of the community and each one continues to delight and inspire me every single day. Whether you’re a fansite owner or staff member, livestreamer or Youtuber, artist, housing decorator, PvPer, you name it …. thank you. Your passion, creativity, and dedication to our games brings a smile to my face. It’s a special feeling when you all finally get to explore what we’ve created after months and months of working on it. You’re the reason why we continue to do what we do! Thank you for being a part of it!”
– Vanessa Mythdust, Marketing Coordinator
“2020 had high highs and low lows, but we truly felt your support all year long. I especially loved reviewing Wizard101’s past, present, and future with the Long Live the Spiral documentary this past year. What a cool tribute! Thanks for your thoughts, art, and humor! Keep being amazing!!” – Tom “The Friendly Necromancer” Purdue
“I love seeing all the user guides. There is so much love behind people wanting to help other people enjoy a game they can share, what a great community!” – Game Programmer
“Dear Community,
Wow. 2020 y’all! What a quest it’s been. You were so very patient. You were kind. You understood we were real people working right along with you in a topsy turvy world.
Thank you for being a part of the Spiral and all of our lives here at KingsIsle Entertainment. We appreciate every one of you and getting the chance to assist in your travels. We hope that you continue to journey on with us for many years to come.
For all that this year has been, we thank you sincerely. You are what makes our days fulfilled and we look forward to leveling up with you in 2021!” – KingsIsle Support
All of our team members feel the same about their passion and drive to work with you to make our games better for your benefit. We are here for you and will always be listening for feedback and that next awesome idea that may make its way into the game.
For more from us, also be sure to visit our 12 Days of the Spiral page for additional gifts for your game characters.
Have a safe and happy holidays community!
For several years now, KingsIsle gamers have bound together to raise money for charity through Extra Life. Thousands of gamers from all over the world teamed up to make 2020 a great year for Extra Life to raise money for Dell Children’s Miracle Network hospitals. We helped raise money for our local Austin Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas.
As one of the largest fundraising events for the organization, Extra Life helps Children’s Miracle Network to save and improve the lives of as many children as possible.
From the CMN website:
More than 10 million kids enter a children’s hospital like Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas across North America every year. To provide the best care for kids, children’s hospitals rely on donations and community support, as Medicaid and insurance programs do not fully cover the cost of care. Since 1983, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has helped fill those funding gaps by raising more than $7 billion, most of it $1 at a time through Miracle Balloon icon campaigns. Its various fundraising partners and programs support the nonprofit’s mission to save and improve the lives of as many children as possible.
This year, hundreds of Wizards and Pirates joined together on the KingsIsle Gamers team, to play games and raise money for a great cause. Saturday, November 7, was the final grand finale where community livestreamers joined in to play our games. The team’s original goal was $10,000 but together we achieved over $14,000 raised! We even exceeded our fundraising last year by over $5,000!
Our team’s top fundraiser this year was the community group, Legends of the Spiral, with an amazing $1,250 raised! Team leaders who raised $100 or more received the new Wizard101 Candied Isles Bundle. These rewards are currently being sent out over the next several days. If you are a team leader and do not receive your reward by November 20, 2020, please contact community@kingsisle.com.
If you didn’t participate in Extra Life, don’t worry! The bundle is starting to become available in various GameStop stores and should also be available on their website soon.
Thanks so much to everyone who participated! We are endlessly proud of the generous spirit shown in the fans of KingsIsle games. See you on our team next year!
Let’s take a meow-ment to recognize National Cat Day! To celebrate, we wanted to share some of KingsIsle’s pawsitively purrrfect employees. Trust us, these hard workers don’t do any kitten around.
Spotty & Shadow, Lead Software Engineers
“Spotty says, “So you’re telling me that I have to be GOOD for Santa to come?” Troublemaker, meows at closed doors regardless of which side of the door she’s on. “Don’t fence me in!”
Shadow, the printer cat, likes to sit on laps only if she’s not getting petted. She has super-soft fur and will do anything for treats.” – Cheryl S.
Candy, Data Analyst
“Her name is Candy. Just like candy, she is very sweet and sticky. 😋Now she is my coworker at home office. Everyday she lies beside me when I’m working. But she just sleeps almost all the time and doesn’t want to help at all.” – Reyna F.
Zoodles, Game Designer
“This is Zoodles (Zoodles Purdoodles). She’s a silly, gray cat with white accents around her eyes and a cute, little white face. She likes to be lazy and sit in the sun. I hear that’s pretty standard for cats.
Every night she likes to sleep by my feet and gets “extra lovable” at 5am and 5pm when it’s time to convince me to feed her. She loves attacking shoelaces during playtime, and late at night she prefers to sneak up and pounce on people as they walk past. If you stop in your tracks and say, “Zoodles! You got me! You got me SO GOOD!” then there’s typically no claw marks involved in said pouncing and she feels pretty proud of her accomplishment.” – Tom P.
Nacho, Lead Producer
“This kitten decided to curl up on our back patio until we fed her. And then she wouldn’t go away! We named her Nacho, because she was Nacho (not your) kitty, but she’s become part of the family over the last eight years. She loves chicken but hates potatoes, and she squeaks instead of meowing most of the time.” – Leah R.
Gizmo, Senior Game Designer
“Name: Gizmo
Talents: Can do 8 tricks (Shake, Lay all the way down, High Five, Fist Bump, Meer Cat, Turn around, Stand up, and Hug)
Future Career: After flying him up to Michigan to see his Grand-dad and captaining a boat, he wants to be a pirate!” – Eric W.
Hemingway, Software Engineer
“His name is Hemingway, he’s a handsome boy, and he’s a cross-eyed Siamese. He’s become a bit of a grumpy old man in his older age, but he still will give me some lap sits, and still loves pets when they’re on his terms, and he’s my best friend.” – Bram H.
Archie, QA Tester
“This is Archie! He lives in Iowa with my family. Things he loves in life are his three-story cat tree, catnip mouse toys, and making biscuits. He’s very social, loves attention, and will sass Alice (my dog) when annoyed.” – Mercedes F.
Tigger, QA Tester
“This is Tigger. He’s a lazy coworker unless it’s dinner time then he likes to join us at the table for food and discussion. He is quite spoiled and let’s us know when he wants something, either by meowing next to us, knocking off bottles, or laying in places he’s not supposed to.” – Jason B.
Ollivander & Luna, QA Analysts
“Ollivander is a loud cat who runs around the house yelling at everyone while they work. His favorite hobby is trying to bolt outside every time the door opens.
Luna has been my #1 coworker while working from home, she just wants to spend all day sleeping on a lap. Sleeping and squeaking, that’s all she does.” – Amanda R.
Kittan & Siren, Marketing Artists
“Kittan is very shy around strangers and will usually hide, but he becomes the neediest boy when he decides he likes you and will rub up against your leg and cry for scritches.
We adopted Siren as a stray. During her first couple weeks with us, she was very talkative and loud (hence her name). As she’s gotten older, she’s become more independent but will still happily lay in your lap for cuddles. I call her Mash Potato because she’s soft and floppy.” – Courtney M.
Athena, Senior Game Designer
“Athena Bambina Fetuccina Alfreeda is an integral team member who focuses on team spirit through cuddles. Athena maintains the break schedule, especially around lunch time, by loudly letting everyone know when it’s time for pet snacks. She is working on new skills and self taught on how to open doors by herself.” – Matthew F.
Francesca, Birdie, & Henry, Customer Support Representatives
“We adopted 3 kittens during this pandemic. They were found under a porch downtown and were fostered by a nice lady who found out about their plight through a neighborhood newsgroup. We adopted them via the humane society. We had lost our cat of many years at the beginning of March so it was especially wonderful to take these three and give them a forever home.
Here they are in their mind-crushing cuteness.
Francesca “Biscuit”(Calico) is brave , very playful, super athletic and very sweet. She likes exploring and loves to play fetch. She will bring her mouse toys back to you to throw so she can fetch them back to you forever.
Birdie (Siamese) is a tom boy. She is both curious, and easy going. She is up for playing with her brother and sister and relaxing in the sun.
Henry “Butters” (orange tabby) is his sisters protector and a hunter. He kept an eye on his sisters when they all first moved in with us to make sure they were safe and okay. We guess that he is a natural mouser and bird hunter based on his play style with mouse and bird toys and his keen eye. As with the others he loves to run around and play but he is also a tremendous cat baby and loves to fall asleep in his cat mom’s lap.
They are great and have helped make the isolation of the pandemic bearable. I would encourage all of you who can adopt a pet (dog, cat, or whatever) to at least think about doing so. If you can give them a forever home your life and theirs will be enriched as long as you give them the time and love they deserve. If you can’t adopt please consider a donation to your favorite animal shelter.” – John D.
These pawsome pals are all employee of the month in our book! Do you have a cute furry coworker you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments!
Happy National Cat Day!
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