Pirates of the Burning Sea is a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game set in the Caribbean islands of the 18th Century. You play a bold sea captain, master of your own ship and crew, as you seek glory and adventure across the trackless deep.

A perfect compliment to the game’s blistering naval combat scenarios, Swashbuckling in Pirates of the Burning Sea is fast-paced, tactical and offers a variety of fighting styles to suit anyone's taste. Players can choose between three basic schools of fighting- the classic scoundrel's dirty tricks, the formal yet deadly art of fencing, or the wild-eyed, free-wheeling use of small swords and daggers.

Swashbuckling in Pirates of the Burning Sea isn't your typical hack-and-slash endeavor. Through the use of an innovative balance-based attack system, players gain advantage based on position and initiative. Avoiding the typical fire-and-forget MMORPG combat systems, swashbuckling in Pirates of the Burning Sea puts the control in the player's hands. Much like our celebrated ship combat system, swashbuckling provides opportunities for even the newest player to prevail in battle, allowing cunning and tactics to take a front seat to character level and experience.

I realize the subject of when we're shipping is a hot topic for the community. As you may expect, it's a hot topic for us as well. When I talked about the distribution issues earlier, I had expected that the issue would be closed by now and that we'd have announced the new date. Needless to say, this hasn't happened. That's not to say that we haven't made progress (a first draft of the contract was delivered), but it's still not done.

As anyone who's been through this process can tell you, there are always language issues, control issues, and even when everyone's largely in sync, these things can take a long time (as they have). No matter how much you (and I!!!) wish it, there's no "just get it done". There's working through the issues, clearing up confusion, and making sure everyone's on the same page.

Part of what has taken so long is that I'm 100% dedicated to maintaining control of the game. That's a very unique position in this industry, and honestly, I don't think a contract like this has ever been done, so there's a lot of education that has to occur. And while I know that the length of time is frustrating to our fans, Pirates is a long-term project for us. We have a lot of long-range plans for the game after we launch and we intend to be working on it for quite a few years. So I'm not going to rush a contract in order to "get it done" - it has to be done right.

I wish I could say more, but NDAs with other companies restrict what I can talk about. I will say that I'm talking with good people with good intentions, and we're working through things.

What I can talk about is June. Clearly, we've been hoping to announce the new date along with a lot of other concrete information and new partnerships that we've been developing. A lot of these will be very exciting to you (especially our European friends), and I'm looking forward to talking about it. But I don't want to leave you hanging while we continue with the contract process. If I knew what I know now, I'd have done this earlier, but better now than later.

So here it is plain: We won't be shipping in June.

However, we will be expanding the beta dramatically at the end of June. This coincides with us finally having the original version of the game that we expected to ship for R1. It's a massive improvement over what's in the beta now, with a lot of moving pieces all finally coming together. We'll introduce it to our current beta folks, and assuming that goes well, we'll start the process of inviting people in. Lots of people. This isn't an open beta -- we view that as entirely a marketing device and we still have serious, large-scale testing to do of the economy, the Conquest system, and other features. But it is a huge expansion of our beta population. Currently, to get into the beta, you have to either be crazy lucky or have a beta key. Now your odds will get a lot more reasonable.

And with any delay, it's just that much more time for bug fixing, performance enhancements, and a small, elite group of new features. When the beta testers talk, we listen, and we have been developing a list of the most important things we can do to improve the game. While we don't want to get into feature creep for R1, these are features which are small on work (a day or two) and big on fun. We're using the extra time as efficiently as possible. The time we're looking at isn't that long, and we don't want to get caught halfway through a big feature when we're ready to ship.

We're really looking forward to delivering the first version of Pirates to you. This period of little information has been tough on you, and tough on us. What makes it easier for us is seeing how fast the game is moving now. Not even the beta testers know everything that's coming to them. I know it's been quite a while, but I think you'll find that it's worth the wait.

Features :

• A game for serious gamers. Gorgeous graphics using the latest high-end hardware. Broadband connections required for smooth play. We're making this game for those who want the best experience possible.
• Make your own career. Your fortunes shift with the winds and your desires. Buy a naval commission and command a ship of the line. Turn traitor and work as a privateer for your former foes. Navigate the perils of war and weather as a merchant. You can do whatever your reputation allows - and your reputation is yours to create.
• Epic adventure on a human scale. You'll be on a server with no more than a few thousand players. It's a world big enough for constant adventure, but small enough that your reputation carries weight with the people you meet.
• Player-created content. We put the player community in the designer's seat. Using industry standard tools, you can create new textures and even 3-D models and submit them to the peer-reviewed web site for incorporation into the game. And you own what you create - if you design a new sword hilt or throne or sail design texture, you can make it freely available or charge for it within the game world. Earn in-game income from the sales of your designs! Or keep them to yourself and customize your own unique gear to the nth degree.
• An ever-expanding game. Regular updates will roll out with new features, including avatar play, the magic system, and property development. The initial game of military action, trading fleets, and bloodthirsty piracy will evolve into a rich and player-directed world.

Pirates of the Burning Sea is currently in closed beta and will release later this year.