It seems as though ijji.com is making some big moves to publish some of the biggest free-to-play MMORPGs in North America. Other mega-popular F2P MMOs like Atlantica Online, Gunbound Revolution, Gunz Online and the highly anticipated Huxley Online are all sitting pretty under the ijji.com game portal, and it looks like Atlus Online's Neo Steam will now be joining the family. Just yesterday, Atlus and NHN USA announced that they would be partnering up to publish this steampunk MMO together, and while fans should not be affected in the slightest by this transition, it would be rather interesting if ijji.com began grabbing a few more popular F2P MMORPGs.

Atlus Online has released the new Underworld high-level map in Neo Steam: The Shattered continent to get players in the Halloween spirit. The level is available to players who are level 91 or higher and is located far beneath the worlds of Chrysalis. According to the lore, the Underworld "is a harsh land, where demon hordes are constantly fighting among themselves for dominance. Although this world has existed beneath our own, the shattering created a number of passageways to connect the two."

Also, players who purchase Atlus Crowns between Oct. 2-9 will be entered to win a deluxe edition of Demon's Souls for the PlayStation 3. You can read more about the Underworld and the contest after the jump.

Atlus Online has added two new maps to Neo Steam: The Shattered Continent. Players of the steampunk MMO can now attempt to take down Subject M-277 in the charred Flame Basin or test their skills against an army of foes in the Colosseum.

The Flame Basin used to be a lush forest, but was "ravaged by the greed of the industrial boom," turning it into a barren wasteland. Players can battle M-277, the boss of the basin, and even build their own monsters through cloning experiments. The Colosseum lets combatants fight against a wave of enemies for 30 minutes to practice their moves and prove their worth. Monsters don't drop anything and there's no penalities for dying, so players have nothing to lose by entering these battles.

More information on both of these new maps can be found after the jump.

If you're a fan of both steampunk and PvP, you may be interested in the newest update to Neo Steam: the Shattered Continent. Atlus Online just revealed its first-ever realm vs. realm battle mode, which gives the nations of Chrysalis a chance to participate in all-out warfare.

There's two separate aspects of this PvP update. The first lets players level 50+ battle for control of Garmedis Stronghold, the Killien Fortress and Rangdil Keep. Currently, RvR occurs once every weekend. It will be held this Sunday, Aug. 9, from 8-10 p.m. game time, and will then be held on Saturdays from 6-8 p.m.

Once nations control some castles, players from those nations will be able to explore the RvR dungeons that lie underneath them. The dungeons are divided into two level brackets and contain monsters and puzzles. The catch is each dungeon is open for exploration for only two hours at a time on a specific schedule. You can read more about RvR in this mini-guide on the game's official site.

The steampunk-styled fantasy MMO Neo Steam: The Shattered Continent released its first-ever content patch today, opening a new area for players to explore called Rope Isle. "New monsters, new quests, new areas, and a big-bad bigboss, the Elder Kroness, who’s chained up inside an active volcano," one of the admins writes on the news release, in the official forums.

From the screen shots, it looks like a bunch of new vanity items are also available. The patch also adds a "Player Rankings" system to the game, which is based off PvP play. In case you missed it at launch, Neo Steam is a free-to-play MMO with a variety of human and animal-like characters. Check out our earlier interview for more info.

Neo Steam: The Shattered Continent has launched! The client for Atlus Online's free-to-play steampunk game can be downloaded from the official Web site, so give it a try if you'd like to enter the battle over a precious resource called "Neo Steam."

Atlus is hosting a screenshot contest and a national anthem contest to celebrate the occasion, and the winners will receive T-shirts, posters and in-game items. The contests are only open to residents of North America and Canada.

If you missed it, we recently spoke to Atlus' Jason Ruper about Neo Steam, so be sure to check out our interview if you'd like some more information about the game before you decide to jump into its steampunk world.

Neo Steam: The Shattered Continent is a game that's gone unnoticed on our radar, until now. The game transports players into a Steampunk universe where two nations battle over a precious resource called "Neo Steam" and we're excited to get our hands on it when it enters its open beta phase tomorrow.

For now, we've been given an exclusive look at the game and we're pleased to share five new exclusive screenshots with the ZAM community. Additionally, we had the chance to sit down with Jason Ruper from Atlus to talk about the game.

ZAM: Hello! Thanks for taking some time away from the Shattered Continent to talk with us about Neo Steam.

Jason Ruper: It's an absolute pleasure to get out of the office and talk about-- Oh, nevermind, I guess we're still in the office, aren't we... Right, let's do this!

ZAM: To start, can you give us an overview of the game's storyline and some of the more prominent features?