Development History

0:10 Chrono Odyssey is developed by Chrono Studio, a South Korean studio led by CEO Bae Bong-gun, and published by Kakao Games; executive producer Yun Sang-tae opens the studio's first developer interview (May 23, 2025) by saying the goal was to make progression "just as enjoyable as endgame content" in a seamless world "without any loading screens". The game was revealed by Npixel on Dec 4, 2020, after starting life as "Project S" (Inven), signed with Kakao Games on Mar 20, 2024 (Kakao Games), and held its only public test, a closed beta on Steam, from Jun 20 to 22, 2025. Since then the developers have been reworking it in public, and the launch has slipped four times. Kakao Games' release schedule from its Aug 2026 earnings call lists it for Q2 2027 (Inven Global); there is no release date, as of Oct 21, 2026. The studio itself is on Chrono Studio and today's status on Release Date.

Quick facts

Project S and the 2020 reveal

Npixel, the Korean company behind Gran Saga, revealed Chrono Odyssey with its first official video on Dec 4, 2020, saying development had begun in 2019 and that the project was formerly known inside the company as "Project S" (Inven, Dec 4, 2020). The 2020 pitch was for PC, mobile and consoles, with composer Cris Velasco (God of War, StarCraft, Overwatch) on the score and a story about the organization "Idraiginn" at war with 12 gods (MassivelyOP). That story and the mobile version were both dropped later: the story is being rewritten (see Story). The reveal followed a funding round of 30 billion won that Npixel raised in November 2020, citing Gran Saga and Chrono Odyssey (Inven).

4:54 The idea came from older games. Asked by the creator Kanon in June 2025 what inspired it, Yun Sang-tae names Chrono Trigger for time travel, the Sheikah Slate from The Legend of Zelda for the Chronotector, and Elden Ring for the open world and combat, including a deliberate "sense of scarcity" in the world. The studio's Developer Interview #1 also cites the cosmic horror of Prometheus and StarCraft's Zerg as models for the threat of the Void.

The gameplay reveal (2023)

0:13 The first gameplay trailer went online on May 3 to 4, 2023, under Npixel's logo, which shows over a valley at the start, before views of a cathedral, golden grassland and a harbor town. It showed seasons, weather and time stopping in combat, with a Cris Velasco score, for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S (RPGamer); mobile was gone (ZDNet Korea). It was an online release, not a Summer Game Fest reveal, and drew over 4.5 million combined views by the company's count (ZDNet Korea, Mar 21, 2024). That March, Bae Bong-gun had said on X that he had worked on the game for five years and answered "probably next year" when asked about release (Financial Today). The 2023 credits named producer Samuel Seo, technical director Ken Kang and art director Tei Yoon (RPG Site). Every trailer is on Trailers.

GDC 2024 and Kakao Games

0:20 Kakao Games became the publisher at GDC 2024: a new trailer premiered during Epic's State of Unreal on Mar 20, 2024, and after its opening scenes it shows the Chrono Studio logo, then Kakao Games', before the first wide view of Setera. The same day Kakao Games announced it would publish the game in Korea and worldwide except China and Russia, with "comprehensive support" in localization, marketing and community, and called it "a 'Buy-to-Play' Open World Action MMORPG" (Kakao Games). The Steam page opened that day (ZDNet Korea). No financial terms were published.

0:15 In Epic's five-minute segment, a Chrono Studio presenter stood before slides reading "The vast, morphing world of Setera", between in-engine views of a sunset field and a ruined city street. MassivelyOP reported that the talk described the game as made "since 2021" by "over 120 developers" and announced the Epic Games Store (MassivelyOP, Apr 2, 2024). The year conflicts with Npixel's 2019 in 2020; both are on record. The team size has not been restated since.

Focus tests (2024 to 2025)

The studio tested quietly before the beta. In May 2024 it posted that "Our 65 amazing testers have just completed the 14-day FGT" (MMORPG.com); a small combat test that summer left 60% of testers satisfied, by the studio's figure (MassivelyOP, Jul 31, 2024). Yun Sang-tae's first Steam letter (Aug 8, 2024) said "many parts of the game have been developed, and we are steadily approaching completion," and asked players to "please bear with us a little longer!" (Steam). A private Focus Group Test in February 2025 found Bounty Hunting the most popular content and Soroma Stronghold a popular area (Developer's Notes #1). In November 2024, Kakao's then-CEO Han Sang-woo said large faction wars and PvP were being cut back to suit the Western market (Dailian).

The closed beta (June 2025)

0:40 The only public test so far was announced on May 19, 2025 with a trailer that ends on the card "Join the playtest on Steam, June 2025". It ran Jun 20 to 22, 2025 on Steam only, with no NDA, three classes and one region (Steam). Sign-ups passed 1 million by Jun 6, 2025 (Kakao Games), and Steam showed more than 65,000 concurrent players on Jun 21, 2025 (SteamDB, as reported by MassivelyOP). Impressions were mixed: praise for the world, the Chronotector and the character creator, and complaints about performance, animation and combat feel. The test is on Closed Beta and the response on Reception.

17:04 The studio had framed the beta as a starting point. In Developer Interview #1, Yun Sang-tae says the beta "will be the first public test" and that the goal "isn't to present a perfectly polished version, but to gather feedback from players and continue to improve the game", naming the multiplayer experience and content density as focuses.

The delays

Every window came from Kakao Games' investor calls or interviews, and every one has slipped:

The reasons given changed little. In August 2025, Han Sang-woo said Kakao had decided to raise the game's completeness to meet higher player expectations, since a new game's launch is a one-time moment, and that the launch "will not be delayed further" (Money Today). In February 2026, Kakao said it would "repeatedly conduct core testing centered on the Western region, focusing on completeness and stability" (Icy Veins) and had adjusted the timeline "so that we could minimize the operational risk as much as possible" (Wccftech). A core-user test planned for early 2026 (Byline Network) has not been reported as having happened. In August 2026, co-CEO Lee Si-woo admitted that "the repeated delays in our new releases have severely damaged market trust in our schedule" (Inven Global). Q2 2027 is a window that has slipped before, not a date.

The rework (2025 to 2026)

Since the beta, Chrono Studio has described its changes in Developer Notes on Steam: hit feedback traced to "packet desyncs between the client and the server" and a new Matrix progression system (Jul 4, 2025), a complete overhaul of the narrative and fixes across controls, dungeons, gear and the interface (Jul 30, 2025), new lighting and about 40% fewer shader calls per frame (Dec 25, 2025), free movement, Guard Crush and rechargeable potions (Jan 29, 2026), the Matrix in detail with an NPC Supporter and Monster Equipment (May 7, 2026), and PC optimization with the Korean hardware community Quasar Zone (Sep 22, 2026). Bae Bong-gun said in July 2025 that a second beta had no confirmed date and might not happen within the year (MassivelyOP); none has been dated, as of Oct 21, 2026. Chrono Odyssey did not appear at gamescom 2026, where Kakao Games showed only God Save Birmingham (iNews24), and no trailer has been released in 2026.

Npixel's finances

Npixel, whose co-CEO Bae Bong-gun also leads Chrono Studio, has struggled financially: Financial Today reported in June 2024 that it had made no annual profit since its first audit in 2020, had an accumulated deficit of 154.4 billion won at the end of 2023, and had gone through several restructurings (Financial Today). No layoffs or new funding specific to Chrono Studio have been reported since. How the two companies relate is on Chrono Studio.

Frequently asked questions

Who is making Chrono Odyssey? Chrono Odyssey is developed by Chrono Studio, a South Korean studio led by CEO Bae Bong-gun with executive producer Yun Sang-tae, and published by Kakao Games. Kakao Games is the publisher, not the developer.

When did Chrono Odyssey start development? Npixel said in 2020 that Chrono Odyssey had been in development since 2019, while the GDC 2024 talk was reported as saying "since 2021". It was revealed on Dec 4, 2020.

What was Project S? Project S was Npixel's internal name for Chrono Odyssey before its reveal on Dec 4, 2020.

How many people work on Chrono Odyssey? The GDC 2024 presentation described Chrono Odyssey as made by "over 120 developers", as MassivelyOP reported; no newer figure has been published, as of Oct 21, 2026.

How many times has Chrono Odyssey been delayed? Chrono Odyssey's window moved from Q4 2025 to Q4 2026 (Aug 2025), to Q1 2027 (Feb 2026) and to Q2 2027 (Aug 2026), after earlier targets of 2024 and 2025. There is still no release date, as of Oct 21, 2026.

Why was Chrono Odyssey delayed? Kakao Games said after the June 2025 beta that it wanted to raise Chrono Odyssey's completeness and stability and test it repeatedly with Western players before launch.

Is Chrono Odyssey still in development? Yes. Chrono Studio's newest developer note, of Sep 22, 2026, says development of Chrono Odyssey "is ongoing in a number of areas from new content to improvements to the overall game experience."

Sources

• Letter from the Chrono Odyssey Producer, Chrono Odyssey on Steam, Aug 8, 2024
• Developer's Notes #1: What we've been up to, Chrono Odyssey on Steam, Apr 4, 2025
• Chrono Odyssey Closed Beta Details, Chrono Odyssey on Steam, Jun 6, 2025
• Developer's Notes #6, Chrono Odyssey on Steam, Sep 22, 2026
• Chrono Odyssey on Steam, Valve, read Oct 20, 2026
• Npixel reveals Chrono Odyssey, Inven, Dec 4, 2020
• Npixel reveals stunning space-time MMORPG Chrono Odyssey, MassivelyOP, Dec 4, 2020
• Bae Bong-gun on Chrono Odyssey's timing, Financial Today, Mar 10, 2023
• MMORPG Chrono Odyssey Gets Gameplay Trailer, RPGamer, May 3, 2023
• Npixel shares gameplay reveal trailer and screenshots for MMORPG Chrono Odyssey, RPG Site, May 4, 2023
• Chrono Odyssey gameplay trailer, ZDNet Korea, May 4, 2023
• Kakao Games to publish Chrono Studio's Chrono Odyssey globally, Kakao Games via Game Developer, Mar 20, 2024
• Kakao Games signs Chrono Odyssey, ZDNet Korea, Mar 21, 2024
• Chrono Odyssey pitches its time travel format, announces that it's coming to the Epic Store, MassivelyOP, Apr 2, 2024
• Chrono Odyssey holds a small focus group test, MMORPG.com, May 13, 2024
• Kakao Q1 2024: ArcheAge 2 and Chrono Odyssey are apparently back on track for 2025, MassivelyOP, May 8, 2024
• Npixel's finances, Financial Today, Jun 19, 2024
• Chrono Odyssey shares combat impressions from a recent small-scale test, MassivelyOP, Jul 31, 2024
• Kakao Games Q2 2024 call, TechM, Aug 7, 2024
• Kakao Games Q3 2024 call, Dailian, Nov 6, 2024
• Chrono Odyssey narrows down its launch window to Q4 2025, MassivelyOP, Nov 9, 2024
• Chrono Odyssey closed beta confirmed for June 20th to 22nd, Kakao Games via Game Developer, Jun 6, 2025
• Chrono Odyssey's beta draws in 65K players on Steam, MassivelyOP, Jun 23, 2025
• Chrono Odyssey addresses combat and performance, says CBT2 may not happen this year, MassivelyOP, Jul 7, 2025
• Kakao Games Q2 2025 call, Gamemeca, Aug 6, 2025
• Han Sang-woo on Chrono Odyssey's delay, Money Today, Aug 6, 2025
• Kakao Games Q3 2025 call, MTN, Nov 5, 2025
• Kakao Games Q3 2025 call, Byline Network, Nov 5, 2025
• Kakao Games Q4 2025 call, Gamemeca, Feb 11, 2026
• Chrono Odyssey release date delayed, Icy Veins, Feb 11, 2026
• ArcheAge Chronicles still slated for Q4 2026, Chrono Odyssey for Q1 2027, Wccftech, Feb 11, 2026
• Kakao Games: Odin Q to launch next January, no delays, Inven Global, Aug 4, 2026
• Kakao Games at gamescom 2026, iNews24, Aug 25, 2026
• Chrono Odyssey | Developer Interview #1, Chrono Odyssey, May 23, 2025 (video)
• EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW - My Full Interview with Chrono Odyssey's Lead (ENG/한), Kanon, Jun 9, 2025 (video)
• Chrono Odyssey | Official Gameplay Trailer (4K), Chrono Odyssey, May 3, 2023 (video)
• Chrono Odyssey | State of Unreal | GDC 2024, Chrono Odyssey, Mar 20, 2024 (video)
• Chrono Odyssey by Chrono Studios | State of Unreal | GDC 2024, Unreal Engine, Mar 30, 2024 (video)
• Chrono Odyssey | Closed Beta Announce Trailer, Chrono Odyssey, May 19, 2025 (video)