<s>
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
was	O
a	O
graphical	O
massively	B-Protocol
multiplayer	I-Protocol
online	I-Protocol
role-playing	I-Protocol
game	I-Protocol
initially	O
developed	O
by	O
American	O
studio	O
Sparkplay	O
Media	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
re-published	O
by	O
Sankando	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
August	O
8	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
SparkPlay	O
Media	O
announced	O
it	O
was	O
likely	O
going	O
into	O
bankruptcy	O
and	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
actively	O
holding	O
an	O
auction	O
for	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
SparkPlay	O
Media	O
's	O
CEO	O
stated	O
that	O
unless	O
a	O
buyer	O
was	O
forthcoming	O
,	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
would	O
end	O
when	O
its	O
webhost	O
shut	O
down	O
the	O
server	O
for	O
non-payment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
on	O
August	O
18	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
was	O
bought	O
off	O
in	O
an	O
auction	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
August	O
31	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
the	O
plug	O
was	O
pulled	O
on	O
the	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
website	O
and	O
game	O
for	O
lack	O
of	O
payment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
would	O
appear	O
that	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
has	O
been	O
bought	O
by	O
Japanese	O
online	O
game	O
company	O
Sankando	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
July	O
21	O
,	O
2011	O
,	O
the	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
website	O
was	O
reopened	O
and	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
scheduled	O
to	O
be	O
released	O
in	O
North	O
America	O
in	O
Summer	O
2011	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Development	O
on	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
began	O
2006	O
,	O
but	O
would	O
not	O
be	O
announced	O
until	O
January	O
10	O
,	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CEO	O
and	O
Founder	O
of	O
Iron	O
Realms	O
Entertainment	O
(	O
IRE	O
)	O
Matt	O
Mihaly	O
,	O
announced	O
the	O
founding	O
of	O
a	O
sister	O
company	O
of	O
IRE	O
,	O
called	O
Sparkplay	O
Media	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
intention	O
of	O
creating	O
a	O
free	O
MMORPG	B-Protocol
with	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
be	O
played	O
through	O
a	O
web	O
browser	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
’s	O
system	O
would	O
be	O
entirely	O
microtransaction	B-General_Concept
based	I-General_Concept
,	O
which	O
had	O
just	O
begun	O
to	O
be	O
accepted	O
in	O
the	O
West	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
was	O
initially	O
scheduled	O
for	O
release	O
in	O
the	O
summer	O
of	O
2007	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
a	O
substantial	O
increase	O
in	O
funding	O
[	O
over	O
$4	O
million	O
from	O
Redpoint	O
Ventures	O
and	O
Prism	O
Ventureworks ]	O
its	O
release	O
was	O
changed	O
to	O
sometime	O
in	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
May	O
18	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
announced	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
its	O
closed	O
Beta	O
phase	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Oct	O
.	O
7	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
went	O
into	O
open	O
beta	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
remained	O
online	O
after	O
the	O
purchase	O
by	O
TurnOut	O
until	O
August	O
31	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
where	O
it	O
was	O
shut	O
down	O
due	O
to	O
non-payment	O
to	O
their	O
internet	O
service	O
provider	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
TurnOut	O
Ventures	O
purchased	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
they	O
inherited	O
Sparkplay	O
Media	O
's	O
contractual	O
obligations	O
to	O
the	O
Japanese	O
publisher	O
,	O
Sankando	O
,	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
localized	O
version	O
of	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
for	O
the	O
Japanese	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
Japanese	O
version	O
of	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
,	O
called	O
Ikimonogatari	O
,	O
was	O
announced	O
on	O
April	O
11	O
,	O
2011	O
and	O
was	O
officially	O
launched	O
on	O
July	O
5	O
,	O
2011	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
July	O
2011	O
,	O
American	O
players	O
could	O
once	O
again	O
log	O
into	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
,	O
now	O
called	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
Reborn	O
(	O
EER	O
)	O
,	O
headed	O
by	O
the	O
developer	O
TurnOut	O
Ventures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
log	O
in	O
,	O
users	O
had	O
to	O
utilize	O
their	O
Facebook	O
accounts	O
,	O
through	O
which	O
provided	O
the	O
only	O
access	O
to	O
log	O
into	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
all	O
user	O
characters	O
and	O
data	O
had	O
been	O
deleted	O
before	O
the	O
re-launch	O
of	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
,	O
much	O
to	O
the	O
dismay	O
of	O
many	O
former	O
players	O
who	O
had	O
spent	O
money	O
on	O
micro	O
transactions	O
for	O
their	O
previous	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
October	O
31	O
,	O
2011	O
,	O
the	O
Japanese	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
(	O
Ikimonogatari	O
)	O
website	O
was	O
taken	O
down	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
was	O
announced	O
on	O
the	O
(	O
North	O
American	O
)	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
Reborn	O
forms	O
that	O
development	O
had	O
been	O
put	O
on	O
indefinite	O
hold	O
and	O
EER	O
's	O
development	O
team	O
at	O
TurnOut	O
had	O
been	O
relocated	O
to	O
other	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
Reborn	O
remained	O
online	O
,	O
though	O
the	O
cash	O
shop	O
had	O
been	O
closed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
November	O
20	O
,	O
2011	O
,	O
the	O
English	O
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
Facebook	O
page	O
stated	O
that	O
as	O
of	O
November	O
24	O
,	O
2011	O
at	O
9pm	O
EST	O
the	O
game	O
would	O
be	O
closing	O
,	O
without	O
a	O
known	O
date	O
if	O
or	O
when	O
the	O
game	O
would	O
be	O
playable	O
again	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
is	O
a	O
free	O
massively	B-Protocol
multiplayer	I-Protocol
online	I-Protocol
role-playing	I-Protocol
game	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
comparable	O
to	O
RuneScape	B-Protocol
and	O
Achaea	B-Application
as	O
it	O
shares	O
many	O
gameplay	O
elements	O
with	O
these	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Earth	B-Application
Eternal	I-Application
features	O
four	O
playable	O
classes	O
:	O
Druid	O
,	O
Knight	O
,	O
Mage	O
,	O
and	O
Rogue	O
.	O
</s>
