Publisher Gala Networks Europe and Russian developer Nival Online announce Allods Online, an upcoming subscription free MMORPG based on the Allods series of RPGs (the Rage of Mages series in North America and Europe). The game is described as fantasy meets space opera, and they claim the over $12 million in funding behind the project is "the largest games development budget in Russian history." Here's a bit on the game:

Allods Online will feature classic fantasy MMORPG gameplay that fans of the genre’s most successful titles can enjoy. It features extensive questing, intense player-versus-player combat, grand exploration, in-depth character development and plenty of social interaction. In the Astral, players will have the chance to put their wits and brawn to the test in larger-than-life Astral battles, the game’s giant fights between competing ‘Astral ships’ manned by multiple players. Adventurers from all over the world will have to choose between six races and eight character classes before choosing their allegiance between the two warring factions: the League and the Empire.