Albion conquers worlds with Alverata

Albion Online (AO) is a free medieval fantasy MMORPG developed by Sandbox Interactive, a studio based in Berlin, Germany. Set in a Middle Ages, Albion Online is based on the Arthurian legends, with militaristic strategy aspects to it. Albion Online has been translated into 11 languages and has over five million registered users.

The game’s initial launch was in July 2017, quickly followed by a Steam release in 2018. In April 2019, the game went free-to-play, expanding its community to include hundreds of thousands of new players worldwide. Then in June 2021, Albion Online officially launched for iOS and Android devices, bringing a massive influx of new players and fulfilling one of the game’s foremost goals: to become the world’s first truly cross-platform MMORPG.

The game uses the Irregular style of Gerard Unger’s Alverata, Cyrillic and Latin, a contemporary and eclectic font family inspired by type from medieval Europe. Alverata is Dr Gerard Unger’s resolutely modern typeface inspired by his doctoral research on Romanesque type in 11th and 12th century Europe, so it is an appropriate fit for the time frame, the location, and the tone of play.

Alverata’s Irregular style is where real distinction lies because it’s made for scenarios where combining uniqueness with eclectic historical reference is the primary goal. As a general rule, curved shapes prevail in the conventional Latin lowercase, while straight lines and angles dominate in the uppercase. But Alverata Irregular swaps these characteristics —  straight lines become curved and curves become straight — experimenting with the characters themselves rather than increasing their weight or creating an accompanying sans.

Gaming can take us out of life’s tedium and encourage adventure without threat. It offers both escape and intentionality with low stakes, but may open our mind to the possibility of taking on true adventures in the real world. The fantasy world of searching, building, completing tasks, and proving oneself can be a primer for calculated risk and the joy that may result. And this is also the story of Alverata — inspired by the real world, infused with fantastical and unexpected shapes, placed in a fantasy world to set the tone, and pointing back to what is true.