Mabinogi is an online game released by South Korean Game Distributing Company Nexon, and developed by devCAT studio, one of several development teams in Nexon Inc. The Welsh word mabinogi is found in the original manuscripts of the Mabinogion. The game engine features hand-painted textures stylized with edge detection outlining. The game world is developed continuously, through the release of important patches (referred to as "Generations" and "Seasons") that introduce new areas, additional features such as pets and new skills, and advancement of the storyline. The user interface is simple and designed in the likeness of Microsoft Windows'' task bar. Mabinogi was built on a hybrid Value Added Services model (which varies slightly for each game localization) that allows free play for limited time a day and the subscription of paid packages, purchased through the game shop. In South Korea, beginning with the Chapter 3 patch, Mabinogi changed to micro-transactions. It now allows 24-hour free play and the Item Shop only offers items, without subscriptions. The game service is currently available in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mainland China, North America and most recently New Zealand and Australia. During the 2007 Gstar game show in Seoul, South Korea, Nexon announced an Xbox 360 version of Mabinogi. The North American closed beta test began on January 30, 2008, at 2pm PST. The pre-open beta only available to Fileplanet users was released on March 5, 2008. The full open beta was released on March 6, 2008, at 3PM PST. The North American localization of Mabinogi was officially released on March 27, 2008. The player is not limited by any class other than the character''s race, and is free to level up any of the different skills available. The combination of skill choices, age, items, physical constitution, and other variables such as user titles, is what makes up the character. The gameplay is largely skill-based. To learn and improve skills, Ability Points are required.

MABINOGI