8th Silkroad Online Expansion Coming Aug. 2

Silkroad Online's eighth expansion, Mysterious Temple of Jupiter, is scheduled to launch on August 2. It includes a level cap increase to 120, new hunting grounds, new dungeons, new skills and over 60 new quests. There's also new content for low to mid-level characters, as well as a streamlined and improved enemy monster AI.

Watch the trailer below to see the expansion in action.

Silkroad Online Hits Russia

Joymax, the developers and publishers of asian sensation MMORPG Silkroad Online, are partnering up with Russia publishers Astrum Online Entertainment to finally bring Silkroad Online to the Russian people. Interestingly enough, when the Russian publishers opened the game up in Open Beta, they actually managed to have a higher number of concurrent users than another game they publish, Perfect World Online.

Chan Woong Jeon, a CEO at Joymax, notes that, "This is the first time for Joymax to enter the market outside of Asia. I have nothing but great respect for the Russian publishing partner, Astrum."

Arabic Silkroad Launch Comes With Worldwide Events

Joymax, the independent developer and publisher of Silkroad Online, today announced that they will have Arabic language support for their game on February 2nd, 2010. This follows their Turkish language expansion a few months back, and it is the second of four planned multilingual expansions, with Spanish comes in April and German coming in May.

In order to encourage players to share the news about this new language support, Joymax is also holding a worldwide Silkroad Online community event from January 19 to February 2. In a very sneaky PR move, the team notes that players simply need to upload the Silkroad Online banner onto their homepage, forum or online community to advertise coming of the Arabic language service and a lucky few of these 'ambassadors' will win prizes like 10th Seal of Moon Necklaces, 10th Seal of Moon Earrings, or even 10,000 skill points.

To learn more about Silkroad Online and the upcoming Arabic language support, visit the official website!

Silkroad Offers Big Prizes With Turkish Launch

Joymax, the publisher/developer team behind Silkroad Online has announced that they will have a global event to celebrate the upcoming launch of the Turkish language service for their fantasy MMORPG Silkroad Online. The launch is set for November 17th, and will be followed by "extended multilingual support" in Arabic, German and Spanish-speaking players in the coming months.

During this event period, from November 10th to December 1st, players who buy items from the Silkroad Online in-game store will have the opportunity to win several prizes, including a brand new laptop, an iPod or a PSP. New Silkroad Online players who reach level 40 during the event will also become eligible to win these prizes, so it's not just limited to making in-game micro transaction purchases.

Finally, the team will also be having an in-game launch party that will take place on November 21st, from 10:00am to 6:00pm, Silkroad Time. There will be small 2v2 and 5v5 tournaments held, as well a 1v1 PvP competition. As well, there will also be a Quiz challenge to ensure that PvP haters will at least get something to do. You can see everything about the event over at the Silkroad Online website.

Silkroad Celebrates Halloween With New Outfits

Joymax, the independent developer and publisher group for Silkroad Online has announced that their new Halloween outfits are available for players. For males, there is the "dark and sinister" Duke outfit, and it comes complete with a top hat and cape. For females, there is the Countess gown, which also comes along with a nice little Witch hat.

Of course, the team stresses that these costumes aren't just for looks either, as players can talk to the blacksmith NPC in town to upgrade their avatar gear to enhance their gear with vitality, strength, magic and other defensive traits. Finally, don't get too attached to your costumes! The Duke and Countess avatars are limited edition items, and, unfortunately, they will be replaced once the holiday is over (replaced with what, I have no idea!)

Silkroad Online Takes The Battle To the Bots

Players in Silkroad Online may be breathing a sigh of relief at their latest of events, which, instead of having the population killing monsters, the team has focused their attention on killing... bots! Today marks the beginning of of Joymax's second "clean campaign" and anti-bot policy being implemented to clean up the Silkroad servers for good. In addition to a revamped bot detection system, the team is also implementing a "three strikes" rule for players who use illegal programs. In order to protect players who unintentionally play Silkroad Online with malicious software, the team will give most players three chances before they receive a permanent ban. For the first illegal offence, players will be banned for seven days, then 14 days for the second offence, and finally culminating in a permanent ban for their third offence.

In order to celebrate this newly mounted offensive on botters and hackers, Joymax, the team behind Silkroad Online, has announced two campaign oriented events: the Bug Hunt and the Cheering Campaign. For players who catch all the bugs that pop up on the event page, they'll be entered into a drawing to win a brand new avatar cash item. As well, for players who leave encouraging messages on the event page as part of the Cheering Challenge, they will also be entered into the drawing. Five users from each event will be randomly chosen and then awarded the prizes. You can read more about the anti-botting campaign on the Silkroad Website here!

Legend IV Plus Update Set to Launch Next Month

Joymax has unveiled the teaser site for Legend IV Plus, the next update for Silkroad Online. The update is scheduled to launch in July and will open the path to Roc Mountain and introduce a dungeon for players level 80 and up.

Players who make their way to the summit of Roc Mountain will have to fight a 100-foot-tall crimson bird in an attempt to obtain the treasure the monster has collected over the centuries. You can find more information on Legend IV Plus on the teaser site or below.

Legend IV: Tomb of the Qin-Shi Emperor

Silkroad Online received a major update in March, in the form of Legend IV: Tomb of the Qin-Shi Emperor. The update increased the free-to-play MMO's level cap from 90 to 100 and added new high-level skills, quests and a dungeon in the form of the Tomb of Qin-Shi. Since we've not done much with the game since its release in 2007, we thought it was about time we saw what all the fuss was about.

Silkroad Online is set across the "Silk Road", a series of trade routes that crossed China, the Middle East and Eastern Europe 1,400 years ago. The developers claim to have drawn heavily from mythologies spanning the region, as well as what's known about the Silk Road itself, with the game's "Triangular Conflict" PvP system aiming to recreate what the Silk Road was like at the time. When characters reach level 20, they're able to become Merchants, Hunters or Thieves, each of which has a different role on the Silk Road. Merchants are tasked with delivering goods, Hunters are hired to protect them and Thieves try to steal from Merchants. This system is separate from the game's character classes, meaning that however you've built your character you can take on whichever of these roles you want. It's even possible to switch between roles if you don't like the one you've chosen.

Silkroad Online Hits Concurrent Player Milestone

Silkroad Online, the free-to-play MMORPG from Joymax, has reached quite a milestone; 7.2 million registered users, and 100,000 concurrent players. Congratulations, Silkroad Online!
SAN JOSE, Calif. - June 25, 2008 - Joymax, an independent developer and publisher of interactive entertainment, today announced that the company’s popular free-to-play MMORPG, Silkroad Online, has garnered over 7.2 million registered users and is supporting 100,000 concurrent players on their global servers (including North America). Including their licensing partners in four other countries, along with the players on the Korea servers, Silkroad Online actually services over 18 million registered users and 170,000 concurrent players. Joymax recently released a new expansion, Legend III Roc Mountain, featuring new territory, quests, weapons, and an increased level cap for adventurers to enjoy within Silkroad Online.

About Silkroad Online

Silkroad Online is a historical fantasy massively multiplayer online RPG that puts the player deep into ancient Chinese and European civilizations along the Silk Road trade route. Traveling across Jang’an, China to Constantinople, players can make their fortunes as merchants, prey on the rich as thieves, or be protection-for-hire as hunters. Silkroad Online is free to play, and offers the unique chance for players to develop their characters free of restrictions or fixed paths.

About Joymax

Since its establishment in April, 1997, Joymax has been developing and publishing quality games for the emerging game industry of the 21st century. Based in Seoul, Korea, the company has published numerous titles for the PC platform, and its first MMORPG, Silkroad Online, has grown to offer service in 200 countries since its 2004 launch. Joymax is to become a global entertainment company providing multimedia content. For more information, please visit www.joymax.co.kr/eng/.

More information about Silkroad Online and Legend III Roc Mountain are available at http://www.silkroadonline.net.