2000s: launch and spread across Asia
Webzen ran a closed beta and then an open beta of MU Online in Korea in 2001, and the game went commercial there on 19 November 2001. Within a few years it reached most of East and Southeast Asia through Webzen's own branches and licensing partners. See What is MU Online? for an overview of the game itself.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2001 | Closed beta, open beta and commercial launch in Korea; awards at the Korea Game Awards 2001 |
| 2002 | Launch in Taiwan; joint venture 9webzen set up in China with a licence for the game |
| 2003 | Launch in China; licences signed for Thailand and Japan; Global MU Online opens on 13 October |
| 2004 | Launch in Japan; licence signed for the Philippines |
| 2005 | Launch in the Philippines; licences for the U.S. (K2 Network) and Vietnam; top MMORPG in Korea's customer satisfaction index |
| 2006 | Available in over 100 countries; more than 56 million registered accounts by year's end |
| 2009 | Webzen takes Global MU back from K2 Network and opens it on webzen.com with a Season 4 realm on 21 May; MU Blue launches in Korea |
| 2011 | New licence for Thailand (Winner Online) |
The 2009 Global relaunch
Since 2009When the licence with K2 Network ended in May 2009, Webzen moved Global MU Online to its own portal. After a beta in April, a new Season 4 realm opened on 21 May 2009 as free-to-play, with characters kept this time. Accounts from the old Global service were to be moved into the new realms in June.
Season start dates
MU Online grows through big updates called Seasons, 22 so far. The dates below are when each season's first part began in Korea, from the table on Wikipedia, which is based on a compiled Korean timeline. The Global version gets the same content, but later.
| Season | Start in Korea |
|---|---|
| Season 0 | 2001-02-12 |
| Season 1 | 2005-08-17 |
| Season 2 | 2006-08-29 |
| Season 3 | 2007-12-06 |
| Season 4 | 2008-08-26 |
| Season 5 | 2009-08-27 |
| Season 6 | 2010-10-07 |
| eX700 | 2011-11-21 |
| Season 8 | 2012-11-27 |
| Season 9 | 2013-12-10 |
| Season X (10) | 2014-08-19 |
| Season 11 | 2015-10-21 |
| Season 12 | 2016-11-01 |
| Season 13 | 2017-10-24 |
| Season 14 | 2018-10-16 |
| Season 15 | 2019-09-24 |
| Season 16 | 2020-09-15 |
| Season 17 | 2021-09-28 |
| Season 18 | 2022-09-27 |
| Season 19 | 2023-09-19 |
| Season 20 | 2024-09-24 |
| Season 21 | 2025-09-30 |
| Season 22 | 2026-09-15 |
Sources
Game pictures: © Webzen Inc. · muonline.webzen.com