WonderKing: the record of a 2D side-scrolling MMORPG in the West

WonderKing plays on a flat plane. Your character runs left and right, jumps between platforms and fights in two dimensions, the way a console platformer does, only inside a persistent online world. The msupdate blog uses the same label, "2D side-scrolling MMORPG", in the post that carries the December 2011 notice.

Gaming Nexus, covering the game in January 2010, lists pets, mounts, crafting, cooking and mining among its features. That list is all the coverage offers, so this page does not describe combat, classes or progression.

Gaming Nexus reported on 7 January 2010 that WonderKing was entering open beta in North America. The item was a press release attributed to Ndoors Interactive, the company that published the game for Western players at that point.

A second Gaming Nexus piece, titled "The WonderKing is dead! Long live the WonderKing!", puts the commercial launch at 28 January 2010 and says the game was available to all North American gamers. That gives three weeks between open beta and launch.

By late 2011 the international service sat with Ignited Games, the California publisher that also ran DarkEden and Rosh Online. How the game moved from Ndoors Interactive to Ignited Games, and when, is undocumented.

By 2012 Ignited Games published five titles: WonderKing, DarkEden, Rosh Online, Atlantica Online and WindSlayer 2. A catalogue entry shows the title was on the shelf. It does not show the servers were running.

The notice came from Ignited Games and was reproduced in full by the msupdate blog on 17 December 2011. MMOHuts covered it on 20 December 2011. The text said the publisher would "temporarily discontinue service" because of unresolved issues with the developers, including a limited amount of new content without their full support.

It gave two dates. The WonderKing Item Mall would close on 5 December 2011 at 6 pm PST, and the game servers would shut down on 29 December 2011 at 12 pm PST. The publisher added that all user data would be kept so accounts could be restored when the service came back, and it listed compensation: iCash reimbursements for accounts with a character at level 30 or above, to be paid on 5 December 2011 at 7 pm PST.

Temporary, in the publisher's words

The announcement describes the shutdown as lasting "a few months" and says the service could not continue "without their full support", a reference to the developers (MMOHuts, 20 December 2011). It does not give a return date. A temporary closure is not a permanent one, and this page labels it exactly that way.

Steam's store page lists WonderKing as free to play, published by wondersoft with dreamideasoft as developer, released on 12 January 2026. That page is the only reference used here for that release.

Beyond the shared name, how this version relates to the 2010 and 2011 services is unclear, so this page does not describe the relationship.

Gaming Nexus's open beta coverage of 7 January 2010 describes pets that grow and evolve from cuddly companions to formidable allies, and its launch piece of 28 January 2010 mentions crafting, cooking and mining. For the 2026 relaunch, Notebookcheck wrote on 13 January 2026 that numerous classes are available, each with unique skills and fighting styles, and reported a concern that players who buy items in the store have an advantage.

The Korean developer is not named, the character classes are not listed, and no European, Japanese or other regional version is documented. Player numbers are unknown, and the date the Ignited Games service ended is not on record. A MassivelyOP report on the 2026 relaunch, seen only as a search excerpt, says the original game was fully closed in 2012; the page does not use that as a dated record. Each of those stays empty here until reporting supports it.

For the release facts in one place, see the release date and regional versions article.