$12m – Russiaâ??s biggest ever game budget

Russian game group Nival Online has reinvented its star franchise as a free-to-play MMO in the nation’s most expensive development project ever.

Role-playing title Allods – called Rage of Mages in the west– is said to be the most successful ever game to be developed inside Russia. Now with a record budget of $12 million, Nival will re-develop the game as an MMORPG and release the title on Gala Networks’ gPotato gaming portal.

Allods Online will launch this autumn, adding to Nival’s portfolio of titles which includes the 2006 PC title Heroes of Might and Magic V. In 2008 the developer picked up the awards for Best Online Game and Best Game Developer during the Russian Game Development Conference.

“We are excited to work with Nival Online who has proved their mastery of PC and online games for over a decade” said Hyun Hur, CEO of Gala Networks Europe.

“We are confident that Allods Online will have a major impact on the overall online games industry and demonstrates that top quality games can be free, giving players a strong alternative to subscription-based MMORPGs,” Hur added.