UK-based Codemasters is backing out as MMO game Archlord's operator in the U.S. and Europe starting October 2nd, leaving the game's South Korean publisher Webzen to take over operating servers for those territories as of October 3rd.

"Our licence for ArchLord is due to expire shortly and unfortunately, after several weeks of negotiations with NHN, the Korean developers of the title, we have not been able to reach an agreement to renew the contract, therefore the service will be transitioning across to Webzen," explained Codemasters in an email sent out to U.S. and European users, and posted on The Bit Bag.

Codemasters will transfer character data, game server data, usernames, and transition keys to Webzen, though it will not transfer credit balances. Players are invited to spend all their credits before Codemasters discontinues it service, with all items in the shop temporarily discounted by 50 percent until the transition.

The UK company launched Archlord, its first MMO, in October 2006 to mixed reviews. The game failed to attract a significant userbase, forcing Archlord to adopt a free-to-play model the following year. Codemasters' other two MMOs, The Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online, have had better success attracting players, though the latter will also become free-to-play in North America next week.