The world of Atlantica Online just got bigger. The strategic, turn-based MMORPG that sends players on a journey around the globe opened up the Western Hemisphere to be explored.

NDOORS Interactive has expanded the game with its first major content upgrade, dubbed the "Next Frontier." For the past month since the game launched, Atlantica adventurers have battled and explored some of the ancient civilizations of the Eastern Hemisphere. Now they will cross the oceans into the Americas, where they will encounter monsters drawn from the myths and legends of the American Old West and Aztecs. In addition to new geographic regions being added, new mercenaries will be made available. The level cap has also been increased from 100 to 120.

"The world of Atlantica is vast and open to all sorts of possibilities," said Peter Kang, CEO, NDOORS Interactive. "This is just the first of what we envision to being many significant content additions for the game. There is still much more of Atlantica's domain to open up, like South America and Oceania, and still many more civilizations and legends that we will draw on to serve as the backdrop for future quests and characters."

North America is where the bulk of the new areas will be found. In Detroit, players will face monsters that will try to rock their world. Then in Dallas they will come across a saloon where players can expect, like any good Western, a barroom brawl. A new guild dungeon will be found on Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay. There will also be several new dungeons added to existing regions, such as China.

The first two B Class mercenaries will be introduced. These more powerful and difficult to acquire mercenaries are the Spartan and the Sailor. This new class will keep with the theme of mercenary upgrades being based on actual figures from human history. The Spartan can be upgraded to Leonidas, the legendary king who led the Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae. The Sailor can ultimately become Anne Bonny, the infamous female pirate. To obtain the Sailor mercenary, players will travel to the Caribbean and complete quests, one of which will require them to fight for their lives against Davy Jones.

New content has also been added as part of a Christmas event. For a limited time, players can go on a special quest that will take them to Santa's Villa. Good old St. Nick isn't so jolly in this villa, however, forcing players to battle some nasty holiday creatures. By completing this quest, players can obtain items like a Santa's hat and an antler's hat that comes with a nose that will light them through dark situations, just like Rudolph. Other items that will be made available through this event are products found in the Item Mall.

About NDOORS Interactive

NDOORS Interactive is the U.S. subsidiary of Korea-based NDOORS Corp., which develops and publishes online games. NDOORS' other popular online games include the political and economic MMORPG 'Luminary: Rise of the Goonzu' and the time traveling strategic RPG 'Time N Tales.' More information is available at http://www.ndoors.com/eng.