Nexon Wraps First Mabinogi Eternity Alpha Test, Closes Unreal Engine 5 Migration One Step Further

Nexon wrapped the first large-scale alpha test for Mabinogi Eternity on Sunday, September 6 at 23:59 KST, according to the official alpha test notice on the Korean Mabinogi site. Characters and items earned during the four-day test are being reset, and the studio's broader plan is to transfer data from the currently running Mabinogi to the official launch of the rebuilt game.

Mabinogi Eternity is a full engine migration that replaces the long-running MMORPG's legacy Playone engine with Unreal Engine 5. The project is being driven by General Director Min Kyung-hoon and was showcased during the Mabinogi 22nd Anniversary Fantasy Party, where Nexon confirmed that character progression on the live Mabinogi service will carry over to Eternity. Studio coverage of the alpha, organized through the Eternity Project micro-site, describes the rebuild as an attempt to extend the lifespan of an IP that has been live since 2004.

According to industry reporting from Aju Press, the most visible change in the alpha build is in graphics and spatial representation. Unreal Engine 5's Lumen lighting introduces time- and weather-driven lighting and shadow changes, while character models and environments gain more detail. The character creator has been reworked to allow age and body proportion adjustments, and the inventory interface has been simplified. Controls have moved to a keyboard-centric WASD scheme with a shared spacebar dash in combat, a deliberate break from Mabinogi's traditional mouse-driven feel intended to lower the barrier for new players.

Not all of that modernization landed smoothly with veteran testers. Some long-time players reported that while animations feel more natural, the impact of attacks in close combat differs from what they are used to on the live servers, leaving them adjusting to a different rhythm. Nexon framed the rebuild as iterative, noting that the four-day alpha was explicitly intended to validate the core loop from early growth through combat and life skills, and that survey-driven feedback will guide the next pass.

The engine work is part of a wider Nexon strategy around the Mabinogi IP. Last year the company expanded the universe to mobile with Mabinogi Mobile, and Eternity is positioned as the rebuilt service foundation for the original PC game rather than a standalone sequel or Mabinogi 2. In the official statement quoted by Aju Press, Nexon said the goal is to "create an environment where we can continuously engage with users without disrupting their experience with the original Mabinogi" and to "continue developing Mabinogi with the users who have been with us for over 20 years."

Mabinogi Eternity is not launching alongside the alpha's end. A release date for the full update has not been announced; Nexon says it will continue to share development progress and additional test windows through the Eternity Project micro-site and the official Mabinogi portal.