Publisher Perfect World has today revealed an in-depth look into what we can expect for the Xbox One version of free-to-play MMO Neverwinter, which is due to arrive early this year.

The console version will be including all content from the Tyranny of Dragons expansions, which on PC increased the number of playable classes to seven (Guardian Fighter, Great Weapon Fighter, Control Wizard, Trickster Rogue, Devoted Cleric, Hunter Ranger and Scourge Warlock). As well as the expansion, the console version will also include all current content and balancing in the PC version, up to and including Tyranny of Dragons. PC's latest class addition, Oathbound Paladin, will be coming to Xbox One after launch.

Sadly PC and Xbox One servers will be separate, however all free and premium races available on PC will be making their way to Xbox One come launch. While free-to-play, Neverwinter does include a variety of microtransactions ranging from companions, mounts and various boosts.

For more on the game, check out the recent blog post.

Free-to-play MMORPG Neverwinter is about to bring its Dungeons & Dragons-based action to consoles, starting with Xbox One in China this fall, and followed by a worldwide release (and, presumably, other console versions) in the first half of 2015.

According to Neverwinter's lead producer, Andy Velasquez, it's losing little in the translation; on consoles, Neverwinter will feature "all the same races, all the same classes, all the same maps. The content will be there, with some minor exceptions. Since we launched on PC, we've added some bits to the endgame, and then we added another module which had another campaign at the endgame. So we'll probably stagger those releases [in the console version]."

In addition to the console version, Cryptic has also pulled the wraps off the PC version's Tyranny of Dragons expansion, due to arrive Aug. 14. Coinciding with a new storyline event in tabletop D&D, the add-on introduces a new series of quests that revolve around a schism within the mysterious Cult of the Dragon, which will lead to a lot of strange new alliances. Evil dragons will work with humans (and each other), "good" dragons won't step in, and players will ally with a variety of factions – including the secretive Harpers and the Zhentarim, known to fans as one of the most evil organizations in the Forgotten Realms.

"In the tabletop world, players are going to be playing that storyline, that module, and trying to figure out what this new group of the Cult of the Dragon is up to. And they'll also be able to do that same thing in Neverwinter," says Rob Overmeyer, Neverwinter's executive producer. "There are differences. In Neverwinter, it takes form as this guided story that… doesn't take them to endgame, but stays with the player in something that evolves over time, starting at level 26 all the way up to level 60."

Neverwinter: Tyranny of Dragons, the fourth expansion to Cryptic Studios' massively multiplayer online role-playing game, will be released August 14th, publisher Perfect World Entertainment announced today.

Set within Dungeons & Dragons' Forgotten Realms universe, the Tyranny of Dragons module will bridge the gap between both mediums. Dungeons & Dragons creator Wizards of the Coast announced separately today that it will release "serialized entertainment offerings" for the Tyranny of Dragons expansion this year, including the Neverwinter content and two new tabletop games.

“This is a pivotal year for Dungeons & Dragons, and we are thrilled to have Perfect World and Cryptic on board to make Neverwinter a key part of the D&D experience as we transition to the future,” said Nathan Stewart, Dungeons & Dragons brand director. “The new Tyranny of Dragons module is just the beginning of us bringing our new serialized entertainment to the fans of both tabletop and digital games.”

Neverwinter, the free-to-play Dungeons & Dragons MMORPG from developer Cryptic Studios, has today announced that they are going meta with an event this week called Respen's Marvelous Game.

The new in-game event will allow players to participate in an in-game Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game, which means we now have DnD in our DnD. Most likely an answer to this year's traditional April Fools' Day, the event is actually really and will be available from April 1st to April 4th. It will star "mischievous mage" Respen Durothil, who invites those of Neverwinter and Protector's Enclave to play his game.

"Sitting at a table with fellow heroes of Neverwinter — Sergeant Knox, Makos, Celeste, Xuna and Rhix — players move miniature versions of their player character (with miniature bases for added authenticity!) across one of two paper maps set in dungeons and swamps," the meta game's description reads. "Utilize the magic of multisided die, grid paper, cardboard dividers, and *imagination* to save an elven princess or clear out a dungeon, all with narration by the dungeon master himself, Respen."

The event will offer a handful of prizes including the iconic multisided Crysatl Dice, an exclusive Green Slime companion and a stat-boosting Adorable Pet Pocket. Characters can also acquire "tabletop-friendly snacks," such as cornmeal treats called Lliira's Fare, Lathander's Dew "collected from crushed mountain rock" and Neverwintan Red Veins.

Perfect World Entertainment Inc. and Cryptic Studios have today announced that Fury of the Feywild, their first expansion to the free-to-play Dungeons and Dragons-inspired MMO Neverwinter, is now freely available. Set in the adventure zone of Sharandar, Feywild offers adventurers various new challenges including new lore, new instances, and a new dungeon among other changes.

Fury of the Feywild, the first Module for Neverwinter, is a free content expansion that chronicles an attempt by Fomorian Giants to seize the Elven outpost of Sharandar. This free Module allows players to explore the enchanted woods of Sharandar, play as Sun and Moon Elves, collect new weapons and items, earn new rewards, encounter new creatures, and much more.

If all this free content sounds like your kind of deal, then head over to the Fury of the Feywild website for a full look at what to expect from the new expansion and also to sing up if you haven't already.

Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios have unveiled new details on the upcoming expansion pack, Fury of the Feywild, which is set to offer a new campaign system, a new meta-quest feature that allows players to unlock three distinct regions of Sharandar as you progress in Neverwinter.

Once Fury of the Feywild is live in Summer 2013, Sergeant Knox will advise players to travel to the new adventure zone of Sharandar where a new quest line will be introduced as well as the Campaign System. The system itself will be a new UI (user interface) window similar to the Queue or Professions window. In it, players will find Projects that they must complete in order to unlock Sharandar's other neighborhoods, the new Malabog Castle dungeon delve, and new passive powers for their characters.

Those left scratching their heads wondering how you'll be completing the projects and progressing, a new blog post has revealed further information on the subject. Players will find that the Sharandar zone itself will have many repeatable quests that give rewards which players will use in the Campaign System window, but players can complete solo instances and the five-man Malabog Castle to speed up progression within the Campaign System.

"Malabog Castle is unlocked via an early (and relatively quick) Campaign System Project before players are able to enter it. For solo instances, players can acquire a one-time use key that they can acquire while doing repeatable quests in the zone or purchase in game with a new currency that comes from the adventure zone."

Adventurers wanting to know what they will be offered in return for their valiant efforts will be pleased to hear that new T1 sets will be available within Sharandar and new T2 gear is obtainable within Malabog Castle. Players can also obtain T1 gear from new solo instances, from the Sharandar Store with new currencies, and from repeatable Campaign Projects. In addition to armours, Sharandar will be bringing several new unique weapons for each class.

For more on the new expansion, check out the official website which offers a complete rundown of all the new additions to the free-to-play title.

Concluding two months of beta testing with reported participation of over 1.5M players, Cryptic Games' Dungeons and Dragons licensed MMORPG Neverwinter has now officially launched as a free-to-play game:

"Over 1.5 million players have explored Neverwinter during our Open Beta. That's an incredible turnout of gamers and we are humbled by the support and grateful for all the feedback that has led us to this official launch," said Cryptic Studios Executive Producer and COO, Craig Zinkievich. "Our game combines the rich setting of Neverwinter with intense action combat and engaging content. With the Foundry, our user-generated content tool, players can also create an endless amount of imaginative quests and campaigns. The exciting part is that we’ve only just begun and already our 1.5 million players, and those millions of new gamers we expect from this launch, can look forward to our first free expansion module, Fury of the Feywild, in the near future. It's been a long journey, but now the adventure can really begin."

In Neverwinter, players explore and defend one of the most beloved cities from Dungeons & Dragons as one of five different classes: Trickster Rogue, Devoted Cleric, Control Wizard, Guardian Fighter and Great Weapon Fighter. In addition, players can choose from eight different races: human, half-orc, dwarf, elf, half-elf, halfling, tiefling and drow.

As far as launch trailers go, the video below isn't terribly exciting, but reports on the game itself have been largely positive. Watch the clip below, and head over to nw.perfectworld.com for the game itself.

Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios have today announced that in preparation for their Dungeons & Dragons styled MMO Neverwinter launching in under 24 hours, the game will be receiving a new update ahead of the launch that will add in the Alchemy profession plus the new Gauntlgrym event.

Gauntlgrym is now available! Join or create a guild, have the leader ally with the Delzoun Explorers or Luskan Corsairs, and prepare to battle whenever the Iron Tabernacle, Armories of Moradin, and Delzoun Crypts events are active.

Gauntlgrym's events last an hour and a half in total, separated into three half-hour events.

The Iron Tabernacle is a PvE-focused event. 40 players per map will be able to ally with others of their faction to forge weapons, armor mounts, and contribute toward their faction's war effort. When the phase ends, the team with the most points receives a bonus to defense at the start of the next phase. Access this location via the icon marked Gauntlgrym on the Overworld Map. Be prepared, though; the enemies are difficult and an allied guild is required for entry.

Armories of Moradin is a PvP-focused event, and Phase 2 of Gauntlgrym. Players may still access their faction's PvE map in the same way as before and contribute toward their team's objectives, but the heart of this phase is in PvP. Queue for the Gauntlgrym Battlegrounds PvP queue and lead your faction to glory in one of many 20v20 PvP Domination matches!

Delzoun Crypts is the event where your hard work pays off. Both factions gain access to the Fardelver's Crypt, a short dungeon with Tier 1 gear. The faction with the highest score after the first two phases also gains access to the Dwarf King's Crypt, a short, but very challenging dungeon that rewards the brave and bold with Tier 2 gear.

Alongside the new events being added to the game the new patch will also be bringing the Alchemy profession, allowing players to cook up a storm in the kitchen to supplement your supply of potions.

The patch is schedule for 12AM AEST and the servers will be down for an estimated 90 minutes, but Cryptic Studios has warned it may be longer or shorter. Check out the full patch notes over here for more.

Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios have today announced that their Dungeons & Dragons styled MMO Neverwinter has now landed in open beta, marking the beginning of unrestricted access for the free-to-play title.

The major milestone of Open Beta marks the beginning of unrestricted access to Neverwinter and its content creation system, the Foundry, along with no further character wipes. All skill upgrades, profession choices, personal customizations, companions and mounts are persistent and shape the way adventurers rebuild the city of Neverwinter, saving it from Valindra Shadowmantle's evil forces. Neverwinter's Foundry further enables and empowers gamers and authors to create their own unique adventures, publish their own self-generated content directly to the game world, review the missions and quests of others and even tip creators with in-game currency.

Cryptic Studios Executive Producer and COO, Craig Zinkievich has also thanked those participating in the previous betas, including "the Founders, Beta Weekend participants, Alpha testers, fans, and press for their feedback and continued support in making Neverwinter the best game we've ever launched."

Neverwinter's open beta phase also brings with it access to the Neverwinter Gateway, a web portal that allows "players to remotely access in-game status information via their desktops, tablets, or smartphones." Currently the online portal is giving access to players can craft, view their characters, buy and sell in the Auction House, monitor guild activity and daily events, and access their mailboxes.

Check out the launch cinematic below, which was previously available in three separate parts but now made whole. For more information on the beta and signing up, head over to the official website.

Cryptic Studios has revealed the headstart dates for those who purchased a Founders package for upcoming free-to-play MMO Neverwinter. For those who purchased a Hero of the North package you'll be able to jump into the Dungeons & Dragons action on April 25, with Guardian of Neverwinter users gaining access on April 27.

For those who have yet to grab a Founders package don't fret, you'll be gaining access to the open beta on April 30, however you can still purchase a package if you feel the need.

"We've never been in a better place launching a game," said Jack Emmert, CEO, Cryptic Studios. "While the entire team is focused on launching Neverwinter's Open Beta on April 30, we still wanted to thank those committed Founders who stuck with us. Since the beginning of Neverwinter’s Beta Weekends, our Founders have shown us that Neverwinter offers engaging game mechanics, unique features and a gameplay experience that is parallel to subscription or paid games. They have become our biggest supporters and we wanted to give them Beta Weekend 4 as a token of our appreciation."

Those looking to get a upper hand on downloading the client will find they can do so on April 20, and those who already have the client downloaded will also be able to start patching on the same day.

Upcoming free-to-play MMO Neverwinter has begun its last beta weekend before the open beta and subsequent launch. Developed by Cryptic Studios and set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, the current beta weekend is available right now for those who have purchased one of the Founders package, which contains several in-game items and bonuses.

"We've never been in a better place launching a game," said Jack Emmert, CEO, Cryptic Studios. "While the entire team is focused on launching Neverwinter's Open Beta on April 30, we still wanted to thank those committed Founders who stuck with us. Since the beginning of Neverwinter’s Beta Weekends, our Founders have shown us that Neverwinter offers engaging game mechanics, unique features and a gameplay experience that is parallel to subscription or paid games. They have become our biggest supporters and we wanted to give them Beta Weekend 4 as a token of our appreciation."

Alongside the fourth beta weekend a new trailer has also surfaced showing off the Great Weapon Fighter's never-ending thirst for combat, which you can check out below.

For those interested in trying out the game, the wait isn't very far with the game heading into open beta on April 30, essentially launching the free-to-play title.

Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios have marked a new milestone in the development of upcoming free-to-play action MMORPG Neverwinter, with the game heading into open beta on April 30.

"The direct response and support from the Neverwinter community during our Closed Beta Weekends have pushed us to make Neverwinter the best free-to-play MMORPG anyone has yet seen," said Cryptic Studios Executive Producer and COO, Craig Zinkievich. "On April 30, we go into Open Beta. That's when the world we've labored for years to build comes to life -- that's when every gamer can login and play what we've worked so hard to create. We could not be more excited."

As an added bonus, those who had previously purchased a Founders pack for Neverwinter will find an extra beta weekend will be commencing on April 12. The exclusive weekend will be offering a first look at Neverwinter's professions system as part of a newly added 60-hour Beta Weekend 4. Founding members may simultaneously pursue four different professions: Leadership, Mailsmithing, Platesmithing and Leatherworking.

"We've never been in a better place launching a game," said Jack Emmert, CEO, Cryptic Studios. "While the entire team is focused on launching Neverwinter's Open Beta on April 30, we still wanted to thank those committed Founders who stuck with us. Since the beginning of Neverwinter’s Beta Weekends, our Founders have shown us that Neverwinter offers engaging game mechanics, unique features and a gameplay experience that is parallel to subscription or paid games. They have become our biggest supporters and we wanted to give them Beta Weekend 4 as a token of our appreciation."

If you haven't yet purchased a Founders pack, you can do so over here. Check out the latest trailer below as well, titled 'what is Neverwinter' which should give anyone scratching their head a good overview of what to expect.

Thanks to the teams over at Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios, we have a large amount of keys to giveaway for the third beta weekend for upcoming MMO Dungeons & Dragons: Neverwinter.

Set in what is arguably one of the most popular Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings, The Forgotten Realms, players explore and defend the iconic city of Neverwinter, as it rises from the ashes of destruction. This action MMORPG takes players from the besieged walls of the city once known as The Jewel of The North, to subterranean passageways in search of forgotten secrets and lost treasure.

Epic stories, action combat, and classic roleplaying await those heroes courageous enough to enter the fantastic world of Faerûn.

Built by fans for fans, Cryptic Studios is taking care to remain faithful to the world so many role­players adore while bringing the city of
Neverwinter to life.

To grab yourself a beta key for the upcoming weeekend, simply head over to our giveaway page and you'll see the button to claim a unique key. Follow the instructions on the page to signup for the game and download the official client. The beta is scheduled to commence on Saturday, 23 March at 5:00 AM AEST.

For more on the game, swing by our game page which includes various trailers and screenshots.

After last weeks second beta weekend for upcoming MMO Dungeons & Dragons: Neverwinter, Perfect World Entertainment has unveiled a new trailer today depicting the Control Wizard class in action, a powerful spell-caster with a talent for stunning and disabling enemies.

Master of Arcane Magic, the Control Wizard is a powerful spell-caster with a talent for stunning and disabling enemies. With abilities to cast powerful elemental and controlled magic, the Control Wizard can expertly assault a target from a distance. By skilfully managing his control effects, he is able to exploit the weaknesses of his enemies. Certainly, a Devoted Cleric can keep your party standing, the Guardian Fighter can go toe-to-toe with a dragon, and the Trickster Rogue can make sure that dragon dies, but the Control Wizard has the power to keep that dragon from ever reaching combat.

You can check out more of the Control Wizard preview over on the official website, along with the chance to purchase several different Founder's Packs offering early access to any upcoming beta weekends.

Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios has today unveiled beta weekend details for upcoming free-to-play MMO Neverwinter, revealing three separate weekends during February and March. Each of the weekends will offer up to 60-hours of beta access, however details on what exactly will be tested has yet to be released.

Neverwinter offers players a dynamic experience with its engaging action gameplay and unique content such as daily lore quests, looting and party-oriented dungeon delves,” said Craig Zinkievich, Chief Operations Officer and Executive Producer, Cryptic Studios. “After several months of alpha testing, we are thrilled to expand our pool of testers with the upcoming Neverwinter Beta Weekends while offering fans the opportunity to become a founding member of Neverwinter through the Founder’s Pack program. We look forward to fostering a community of passionate players that will help us to make Neverwinter one of the greatest MMORPGs of all time.

Among the announcement of the beta weekends was also the reveal of a Founder program, allowing those eager enough to drop their hard-earned cash onto the game in return for guaranteed beta access and various in-game items. With three Founder packages available, each gaining more items the higher you pay, currently only the larger of two actually guarantee beta access with the highest weighing in at $199.99 USD. You can check out the full list of what is available over at the official site, however you can also check out the trailer below detailing each Founders Pack in visual form.

Cryptic has today revealed a new developers journal that delves deep into the available character customisation for upcoming Dungeons & Dragons MMO Neverwinter, giving players the chance to create a character in their own way with advanced tools.

Similar to their recent Star Trek Online, Cryptic's Neverwinter MMO will offer players the chance to create characters with varying degrees of physical difference, plus a combination of gender, race and class.

In Neverwinter, character creation begins with choosing a race, class, and gender combo. Each race comes with unique racial abilities, which grants some bonuses to core stats -- strength, constitution, and more. These racial abilities allow players to fully customize their play style. Furthermore, stats are also customizable, both through your choice of race and through rolling.

Create a sharp looking avatar with a large scale of options to customize physical appearance. There will be an option to choose from several preset looks or individually fine-tune each facet of your character - slim or lengthen hands, change shape and complexion, add height, show battle scars or tattoos, and much more.

For an overview of what you can expect, check out the recent developer diary which goes into more depth on what exactly can be changed about your character, but you can also check out some of the screenshots below for a glimpse at some finished characters (click here for more).

After being announced last year, Atari have rolled out the first trailer of the third Neverwinter Nights game being developed by Cryptic. Simply titled "Neverwinter" and dubbed as an "Online RPG", this looks set to bring the Dungeons & Dragons goodness for those left wanting by Dragon Age 2.

The official Neverwinter site has more information and we've got screenshots up on the game page.

Check out the official E3 teaser trailer below.