Earth Eternal may have recently returned to North America, but it just lost its longtime lead designer, Andrew "Piggypops" Sipotz. According to his farewell post, he has accepted a new position and TurnOut Ventures is looking for someone to "carry on the torch."

So what does this mean for Earth Eternal, a free-to-play game that shut down last year, was reborn in Japan and has returned to open beta in North America? "Currently the game is a big blank slate, the future very much a question mark," Sipotz said. "I can't honestly say that I know where Earth Eternal will go in the next few months. But I believe in the strength of the community and the passion behind it."

Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland recently tried out the reborn title. Check out his impressions of Earth Eternal while we wait to see what the future holds for this game that's full of anthropomorphic animals.

Since we took our first tour of Earth Eternal in 2009, the game has fallen on hard times. Sparkplay Media had to shut the game down in summer 2010 when it ran out of funds. The game was then recently reborn in Japan under the name Ikimonogatari, and now Earth Eternal has made its return to North America in open beta under the direction of TurnOut Ventures and OutBlaze.

The team behind Earth Eternal has said that it's best to think of it as a brand new game, so I decided to dive in and explore the revitalized world. Keep reading after the jump to find out what Earth Eternal is all about!

Earth Eternal is now in open beta, which means all players are welcome to try out the revamped version of this free-to-play game before it officially launches. As an added perk, all open beta participants will receive a variety of exclusive gifts that will be given to every new character they create after launch. You'll get a helmet (seen above), a banner and an experience point boost. Even more prizes will be given to players who reach level 30 in the beta!

To participate in the open beta, head over to the Earth Eternal site and log in with your Facebook account. Once you download the small client, you can launch the game through the site.

Earth Eternal has quite a history. Sparkplay Media launched the free-to-play MMO that features anthropomorphic animals in late 2009, but had to shut the game down in summer 2010 when it ran out of funds. The game was then reborn in Japan in April, officially launching a few weeks ago as Ikimonogatari. And now it's back in North America in open beta!

Earth Eternal has quite a history. Sparkplay Media launched the free-to-play MMO that features anthropomorphic animals in late 2009, but had to shut the game down in summer 2010 when it ran out of funds. The game was then reborn in Japan in April, officially launching launching a couple weeks ago as Ikimonogatari.

After all that, Earth Eternal is finally returning to North America this summer! MMORPG.com announced that the ownership of the game is now handled by Outblaze and TurnOut Ventures. According to the FAQ, it's best to think of this Earth Eternal as a brand new game. You won't be able to play with your old character, and you'll need a Facebook account to connect to the game. Earth Enternal is still free-to-play, and the open beta should launch very soon.

For a look back at the original Earth Eternal, check out our tour of the closed beta back in 2009. Matt Mihaly, then-CEO and creative director of Sparkplay Media, spoke with us at the time about the MMO's in-depth history and development.

Earth Eternal, a free-to-play browser-based game that features anthropomorphic animals, shut down last summer when Sparkplay Media ran out of funds. However, Massively noticed that a brief tweet was sent out on the Earth Eternal Twitter page today announcing that the game has been reborn under the name Ikimonogatari from the game company Sankando.

If you visit the Ikimonogatari site, you'll notice that the site is in Japanese. According to a follow-up tweet, "Right now our focus is on the Japanese release. We are investigating our options for an English re-release." Will fans of the original Earth Eternal get the chance to dive back into the game? We'll just have to wait and see.

For a look back at the original Earth Eternal, check out our tour of the closed beta back in 2009. Matt Mihaly, then-CEO and creative director of Sparkplay Media, spoke with us about the MMO's in-depth history and development.

Sparkplay Media CEO Matt Mihaly has published a lengthy letter outlining the new content that's coming this year to Earth Eternal, the free-to-play browser-based MMO featuring anthropomorphic animals. He started off by stating that the game's technical performance will be improved, and then dived right into the features that are coming in 2010.

Earth Eternal will be getting more quests, improved AI for boss encounters, pets that start off as cosmetic but will ultimately help you in combat, greater clan capabilities, and PvP arenas this year. Groves, which are the game's customizable environments for players and clans, are also scheduled to launch in 2010.

You can read Mihaly's full letter after the jump.

Today marks the launch of the new Credit Exchange system in Earth Eternal, a free-to-play browser-based MMO that features anthropomorphic animals. The system allows you to buy or sell credits using in-game gold. Credits can be purchased using real money to buy items in the credit shop, so this tool actually allows players to buy items in the store with in-game currency.

On the other hand, this system also lets players sell the credits that they purchased with real money to earn in-game gold. What are your thoughts on the Credit Exchange system? For more information on Earth Eternal, check out our recent tour of the game.

The anthropomorphic animals in Earth Enternal are currently celebrating Harvest Fest, which is an in-game Thanksgiving celebration that runs through Nov. 30. Players can speak to Harvest Masters in the major cities of Camelot, Heartwood and Bremen to warp to a Harvest Feast to enjoy some food, and they can also hunt Turkatrices to to earn tokens for festive items.

In addition, players should be on the lookout for the Turkatrice King and may want to consider purchasing the limited edition Turkatrice Hat in the credit store. For more information on this free-to-play browser-based MMO, check out our recent tour into the world of Earth Eternal.

In case you missed our advance notice last week, Earth Eternal has officially entered open beta! The free-to-play, browser-based 3D game is now available for all players. All you need to do is visit the official Web site and click the "play now" button to get started.

Earth Eternal is a fantasy MMO featuring anthropomorphic animals and creatures. The game boasts 22 different playable races and can be played in your browser or through a downloadable client. We got the chance to try out Earth Eternal during the closed beta, so check out our preview to find out what we thought about the game.

According to a post on the official Earth Eternal forums, the open beta for the game is scheduled to begin early next week. While this isn't technically the official release of Earth Eternal, it does open the browser-based, free-to-play MMO to all players.

Players who participated in the closed beta will gain early access to the open beta today at 3 p.m. PDT. All characters created during closed beta have been wiped, so the early access will give participating players the opportunity to create permanent characters before everyone else. Also, the credit shop is now open for business.

With open beta on the horizon, the Earth Eternal Web site has been changed a bit. "The Game Guide, Knowledgebase, and Credit Shop are now open for you to browse. The forums will also be getting a revamp in the coming days," Community Manager Piggypops said.

We recently got the chance to speak with Sparkplay Media CEO and Creative Director Matt Mihaly about the game. Check out our preview to find out what we thought about Earth Eternal.