Heartipedia

Chrono Odyssey

Chrono Odyssey is an open-world action MMORPG developed by the South Korean studio Chrono Studio on Unreal Engine 5 and published by Kakao Games as a buy-to-play game for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.[^1][^2] Players fight an invading force called the Void in the world of Setera with the Chronotector, an artifact that bends time.[^1][^3] Its only public test was a closed beta on Steam from June 20 to 22, 2025, and as of November 7, 2026 it has no release date: Kakao Games lists it for the second quarter of 2027 after three delays.[^5][^20][^1]

A Field Boss and a Void Nexus In the official Gameplay Walkthrough, a party fights a Field Boss in captured play, breaking its parts and attacking its weak points, before moving on to purge a Void Nexus that keeps spawning monsters until its core falls.

Developer
Chrono Studio, South Korea[1][2]
Publisher
Kakao Games[1][2]
Genre
Open-world action MMORPG, buy-to-play[1][2]
Engine
Unreal Engine 5[2]
Platforms
PC (Steam and the Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S[2][14]
Release
No date; Kakao Games lists the second quarter of 2027[1][20]
Public tests
One closed beta on Steam, June 20 to 22, 2025[5][12]
Beta peak
Over 65,000 concurrent players on June 21, 2025[15]

Overview

Chrono Odyssey is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game with action combat, set in a seamless open world and built by Chrono Studio, a developer based in South Korea, on Epic's Unreal Engine 5.[1][2] Kakao Games announced on March 20, 2024 that it would publish the game worldwide, describing it as a buy-to-play open-world action MMORPG for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles and PC.[2] On PC it is listed on Steam, where its page calls it a next-generation action MMORPG, and Chrono Studio named the Epic Games Store as a second PC storefront at GDC 2024.[1][14] Executive producer Yun Sang-tae has described each part of the label: an open world explored without loading screens, action that asks for precise timing, and the shared play of an MMORPG with less of the genre's usual fatigue.[21] As of November 7, 2026, the Steam page gives its release date as to be announced.[1]

A Field Boss and a Void Nexus In the official Gameplay Walkthrough, a party fights a Field Boss in captured play, breaking its parts and attacking its weak points, before moving on to purge a Void Nexus that keeps spawning monsters until its core falls.

Setting and story

The game takes place in Setera, which the developers describe as a realm where past and future collide and where gods, humans and the unknown beings called the Void clash once divine order breaks down.[22] Players take the role of Sentinels, fighters called to stand against the advancing Void.[3] In the studio's first developer interview, Yun named Chrono Trigger as a lasting influence, in particular its idea of using time to prevent a catastrophe, and said it led the team to ask whether space and time could carry an MMORPG.[22] The beta's playable slice included the early quests of the main story.[4] That story will not ship in its tested form: in July 2025 Chrono Studio wrote that the game's narrative was undergoing a complete overhaul, aimed at drawing players deeper into the world and its lore.[8] An earlier premise, from the 2020 reveal, had pitted a special organization called Idraiginn against 12 gods.[13]

Where past and future collide In Chrono Studio's first developer interview, the team introduces Setera and the Void, then Yun Sang-tae explains how Chrono Trigger's use of time to stop a catastrophe shaped the game's idea.

The Chronotector

The device at the center of the game is the Chronotector, an artifact that, in Steam's description, lets players stop time around monsters.[1] Kakao Games' beta announcement also lists rewinding time among its combat powers.[3] The official gameplay walkthrough presents it as an artifact able to manipulate time and space, says it grows stronger with time and experience, and adds that its bearer can capture the souls of defeated foes and summon them in battle as Specters.[23] Asked about his inspirations, Yun Sang-tae pointed to the time travel of Chrono Trigger and to the Sheikah Slate of The Legend of Zelda as models for the device.[21] Testers who played the closed beta named the Chronotector among the things they liked most, alongside the world and the character creator, in a summary the publisher posted on July 2, 2025.[6]

The Chronotector The walkthrough's narrator introduces the Chronotector as an artifact that manipulates time and space and evolves with its bearer, over footage of its powers in use.

Combat and classes

Combat is built around carrying two weapons and switching between them mid-fight rather than chaining skills on one, and the developers placed an elite boss early in the game so that players who stick to a single weapon run into their cooldowns.[22] The team said it first planned rigidly separated roles, then added hybrid classes such as the Assassin and the Ranger and a range of weapons to loosen them.[22] Three classes were playable in the beta: the Swordsman, the Ranger and the Berserker.[3] Since then, a Matrix system has been introduced that gives each class's three weapons four progression paths apiece, and Developer's Notes #5 of May 7, 2026 describes it as a node-based tree that replaces linear paths.[17][11] Developer's Notes #4 of January 29, 2026 added a Guard Crush: blocking now costs stamina, and an empty stamina bar leaves the character defenseless.[10]

Two weapons, not one The developers explain that combat revolves around swapping between two weapons, and why an early elite boss is meant to teach it.

Content and progression

Chrono Gates are described in the walkthrough as punishing, fast-paced boss encounters at the core of Setera, demanding exact timing on every strike and dodge.[23] In the open world, Field Bosses are large group battles in which players break a boss's parts and can even climb onto it, and Void Nexuses are hives that keep spawning monsters until they are purged.[23] For the endgame, Yun told the creator Kanon in June 2025 that the team had prepared 10-player raids and five-player dungeons, open-PvP areas called Freely Contested Zones, and a mode called Eden that mixes player-versus-environment and player-versus-player play and yields items needed for progression.[21] He added that only around 5 to 10 percent of players prefer PvP, by the studio's count.[21] Gathering covers harvesting, logging, mining and skinning.[1] In May 2026 Chrono Studio added an optional NPC Supporter from the first Chrono Gate onward, gear modeled on the world's monsters, and a multi-channel server structure.[11]

Inside a Chrono Gate The walkthrough shows a one-on-one Chrono Gate boss fight and explains that defeated foes can be captured with the Chronotector and summoned as Specters.

Development history

Npixel, the Korean maker of Gran Saga, revealed Chrono Odyssey on December 4, 2020, saying it was formerly called Project S, had been in development since 2019, was led by Npixel's chief executive Bae Bong-gun, and would have music by the composer Cris Velasco.[13] That first pitch also named mobile among its planned platforms.[13] By March 2024 the game was credited to Chrono Studio, which Gamemeca describes as an Npixel subsidiary and which Bae leads as chief executive.[2][18][16] At Epic's State of Unreal presentation during GDC 2024, the studio gave a five-minute overview of the game, which Massively Overpowered reported as being made since 2021 by more than 120 developers.[14] The publishing deal with Kakao Games was announced the same month and dropped mobile: the release names PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles and PC.[2] Before the beta, the developers said new regions, classes and other content would follow after launch.[22]

On stage at GDC 2024 On Unreal Engine's channel, Chrono Studio shows how it builds Setera's open world with Unreal's tools during the State of Unreal presentation of March 2024.

The 2025 closed beta

Kakao Games announced the game's first public test on May 19, 2025, as a Steam Playtest with early main story quests and three classes.[4] It ran from 00:00 PDT on June 20 to 23:59 PDT on June 22, 2025, on servers in North America, Europe and Asia, on PC through Steam only, with all progress wiped at the end.[5] More than 1 million people had signed up by June 6, 2025, according to the publisher.[3] Massively Overpowered reported a peak of over 65,000 players on Saturday, June 21, along with mixed reactions and frequent comparisons to Amazon's New World.[15] The publisher's summary of the feedback listed the world, the Chronotector and character customization as strengths, and performance, combat feedback, quest guidance and the interface as weaknesses.[6] Testers also made deliberately grotesque characters, which Bae called heartbreaking, and he promised meaningful limitations in the next test.[16]

The beta's character creator SpookyFairy's recording of the beta's first minutes shows the creator in use: preset faces and hairstyles, random looks and sliders for each part of the body.

Rework and delays

After the beta, Chrono Studio described its changes in a series of developer notes on Steam.[7] The first of them traced sluggish combat to desyncs between client and server, and Bae said a second closed test had no date and might not happen in 2025.[7][17] Developer's Notes #3 of December 25, 2025 described a new lighting system and about 40 percent fewer shader calls per frame.[9] Developer's Notes #6 of September 22, 2026 said the game had struggled even on higher-end PCs in the beta and that the studio was testing it with the hardware community Quasar Zone.[12] The launch moved several times. Kakao Games had planned it for 2025, and on August 6, 2025 chief executive Han Sang-woo moved it to the fourth quarter of 2026, citing global competition and the need for more polish.[18] On February 11, 2026 it moved to the first quarter of 2027, then in August 2026 to the second quarter, when co-chief executive Lee Si-woo admitted that repeated delays had badly damaged market trust in the company's schedule.[19][20]

Join the playtest The end of the closed beta announcement trailer of May 19, 2025, which closes on an invitation to join the playtest on Steam in June 2025.

Business model and platforms

Chrono Odyssey is to be sold as a buy-to-play game rather than a free-to-play one.[2] In his June 2025 interview with Kanon, Yun said there would be absolutely no pay-to-win, and that the business model centered on costumes, mount cosmetics and a limited range of content through a battle pass.[21] No price, edition or pre-order had been announced as of November 7, 2026, and the Steam page carried no release date.[1] Kakao Games has said its goal is to launch on every announced platform at once: Steam, the Epic Games Store, PlayStation and Xbox.[5] Its August 2026 release schedule lists the game for PC and consoles in the second quarter of 2027.[20] Chrono Studio's latest developer note, of September 22, 2026, said development continued on new content and the overall experience but gave no date for a launch or a second test.[12]

  1. Npixel reveals Chrono Odyssey, formerly Project S.[13]
  2. Kakao Games announces it will publish the game worldwide as a buy-to-play title.[2]
  3. The global closed beta is announced for Steam.[4]
  4. The closed beta opens for three days on Steam.[5]
  5. The beta peaks at over 65,000 concurrent players.[15]
  6. Chrono Studio announces a complete overhaul of the story.[8]
  7. Kakao Games moves the launch from 2025 to the fourth quarter of 2026.[18]
  8. The launch moves to the first quarter of 2027.[19]
  9. Kakao Games lists the game for the second quarter of 2027.[20]
  10. Developer's Notes #6 covers PC optimization with Quasar Zone.[12]

What we think

This section is Heartipedia’s own opinion, not sourced fact. Each view is reasoned from the facts cited above and from trends we see; it may turn out wrong. A prediction’s words are never changed once made: when the facts are known we add the result under it, right or wrong. Every prediction we have made.

One more slip, past June 2027

We expect Chrono Odyssey not to be on sale anywhere by the end of June 2027, the end of the window Kakao Games gave in August 2026. We think the next date Kakao Games gives will fall in the second half of 2027 or later.

Why: Every target so far has slipped: 2025 became the fourth quarter of 2026, then the first quarter of 2027, then the second. As of November 2026 the game has no price, no pre-orders and no second public test, and the latest developer note, of September 22, 2026, was still about making the game run well on PCs the beta struggled on. A test, a fix cycle after it and a marketing run do not fit in the seven months left.

Prediction Confidence: Likely Check by: Jul 2027 Made

The Assassin and a new opening in the second test

We expect the next public test of Chrono Odyssey to make the Assassin playable alongside the Swordsman, Ranger and Berserker of the 2025 beta. Our prediction is that the same test also shows the rewritten story's opening, on a different premise from the one the beta opened with.

Why: The developers singled out the Assassin as one of the hybrid classes they built to loosen fixed roles, and only three classes have been playable so far. Chrono Studio announced a complete overhaul of the narrative in July 2025, and a rewritten story is most visible in its first hour, which is exactly what a test shows.

Prediction Confidence: Possible Check by: Dec 2027 Made

PC first, consoles after

We think Chrono Odyssey launches on PC before it reaches PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, despite Kakao Games' stated goal of a launch on every platform at once.

Why: The only test ran on Steam alone, and every developer note since has been about PC performance, controls and the interface, including a benchmarking partnership with the PC hardware community Quasar Zone. No console test has been announced. A publisher that admits its delays have cost it market trust has a reason not to hold a finished PC version back for consoles.

Prediction Confidence: Possible Check by: Dec 2027 Made

A standard edition at $49.99 or less

We expect the standard edition of Chrono Odyssey to cost $49.99 or less in the United States. We think the extra money comes from a pricier edition with cosmetics, on top of the battle pass.

Why: Kakao Games sells it as buy-to-play, and Yun Sang-tae has said the shop will carry costumes, mount cosmetics and a battle pass with no pay-to-win. A full-price new MMORPG that also sells a battle pass, after a beta with mixed reactions and constant comparisons to New World, would be a hard sell.

Prediction Confidence: Possible Check by: Dec 2027 Made

The Chronotector is the game; the open world is not

We think the Chronotector and the Chrono Gates are the only parts of Chrono Odyssey that no rival can copy, and that the studio should build its launch around them rather than around the open world. In our view the beta drew New World comparisons because its open world, field bosses and gathering looked like every other action MMORPG's, while stopping time around a monster and capturing a boss as a Specter look like nothing else.

Why: Testers named the Chronotector among the beta's best parts, and the walkthrough calls the Chrono Gates the core of Setera. The weaknesses testers listed (performance, combat feedback, guidance, the interface) all sit in the shared open world, and Massively Overpowered reported frequent comparisons with Amazon's New World.

Opinion Made

What others predict

Predictions made on video by creators, experts or the subject of this page, in their words, each linked at the second it is said. The one line after each is our view. When the facts are known we add the result, right or wrong.

Force Gaming: another beta in summer 2026

Force Gaming , at 20:59 Check by: Sep 2026

"I do believe they're targeting some more beta testing sometime this summer." (YouTube's automatic captions)

Our view: We think he read Kakao Games' February 2026 promise of repeated testing as a schedule, when no date had ever been given.

Result (): Wrong. No public test of Chrono Odyssey took place in summer 2026: Chrono Studio's next announcement after May 7 was Developer's Notes #6 on September 22, 2026, which covered PC optimization and named no test date. The only public test is still the closed beta of June 20 to 22, 2025.

Moments

  1. A Field Boss and a Void Nexus In the official Gameplay Walkthrough, a party fights a Field Boss in captured play, breaking its parts and attacking its weak points, before moving on to purge a Void Nexus that keeps spawning monsters until its core falls.
  2. Where past and future collide In Chrono Studio's first developer interview, the team introduces Setera and the Void, then Yun Sang-tae explains how Chrono Trigger's use of time to stop a catastrophe shaped the game's idea.
  3. The Chronotector The walkthrough's narrator introduces the Chronotector as an artifact that manipulates time and space and evolves with its bearer, over footage of its powers in use.
  4. Two weapons, not one The developers explain that combat revolves around swapping between two weapons, and why an early elite boss is meant to teach it.
  5. Inside a Chrono Gate The walkthrough shows a one-on-one Chrono Gate boss fight and explains that defeated foes can be captured with the Chronotector and summoned as Specters.
  6. On stage at GDC 2024 On Unreal Engine's channel, Chrono Studio shows how it builds Setera's open world with Unreal's tools during the State of Unreal presentation of March 2024.
  7. The beta's character creator SpookyFairy's recording of the beta's first minutes shows the creator in use: preset faces and hairstyles, random looks and sliders for each part of the body.
  8. Join the playtest The end of the closed beta announcement trailer of May 19, 2025, which closes on an invitation to join the playtest on Steam in June 2025.

References

  1. Chrono Odyssey on Steam, Kakao Games on Steam, 2026-11-07primary
  2. Kakao Games to Publish Chrono Studio's Chrono Odyssey Globally, Kakao Games, via Game Developer, 2024-03-20primary
  3. Chrono Odyssey Closed Beta Confirmed for June 20th to 22nd, Kakao Games, via Game Developer, 2025-06-06primary
  4. Chrono Odyssey Global Closed Beta Announcement, Kakao Games on Steam, 2025-05-19primary
  5. Chrono Odyssey Closed Beta Details, Kakao Games on Steam, 2025-06-06primary
  6. Community Wrap-Up: Closed Beta, Kakao Games on Steam, 2025-07-02primary
  7. Developer's Notes #2: End of the Closed Beta Part I, Chrono Studio on Steam, 2025-07-04primary
  8. Developer's Notes #2: End of the Closed Beta Part 2, Chrono Studio on Steam, 2025-07-30primary
  9. Developer's Notes #3: End of 2025, Chrono Studio on Steam, 2025-12-25primary
  10. Developer's Notes #4, Chrono Studio on Steam, 2026-01-29primary
  11. Developer's Notes #5, Chrono Studio on Steam, 2026-05-07primary
  12. Developer's Notes #6, Chrono Studio on Steam, 2026-09-22primary
  13. Npixel reveals stunning space-time MMORPG Chrono Odyssey, Massively Overpowered, 2020-12-04press
  14. Chrono Odyssey pitches its time travel format, announces that it's coming to the Epic Store, Massively Overpowered, 2024-04-02press
  15. Chrono Odyssey's beta draws in 65K players on Steam, mixed reception, and comparisons to New World, Massively Overpowered, 2025-06-23press
  16. Chrono Odyssey confirms restrictions to limit strange and uncomfortable player-created characters, Massively Overpowered, 2025-06-26press
  17. Chrono Odyssey addresses combat and performance, says CBT2 may not happen this year, Massively Overpowered, 2025-07-07press
  18. Kakao Games delays Chrono Odyssey to the fourth quarter of 2026, Gamemeca, 2025-08-06press
  19. Kakao Games delays Chrono Odyssey to the first quarter of 2027, Gamemeca, 2026-02-11press
  20. Kakao Games: Odin Q to launch next January, no delays, Inven Global, 2026-08-04press
  21. EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW - My Full Interview with Chrono Odyssey's Lead (ENG/한), Kanon on YouTube, 2025-06-09press
  22. Chrono Odyssey | Developer Interview #1, Chrono Odyssey on YouTube, 2025-05-23primary
  23. Chrono Odyssey | Gameplay Walkthrough, Chrono Odyssey on YouTube, 2025-06-12primary

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About this page

Drafted by
claude-opus-5-5 on 2026-11-07T12:00:00Z
Checked by
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Reviewed by
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Status
Published and revised continuously; this version is the one described here.
Published
7 November 2026
Last updated
7 November 2026, see what changed
Sources
No Wikipedia source; the sources are listed above.
License
Text CC BY-SA 4.0; embedded videos and thumbnails remain their uploaders’ property, shown under YouTube’s Terms of Service; quotations excluded. Details

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