Ottawa, Canada - May 29, 2025. Northern Forge Studios is proud to announce Natureblight, the next chapter in Orna: the GPS RPG’s ongoing environmental saga, Terra’s Legacy.
Launching Friday May 30, 2025 and running through to June 14, this in-game event journey takes players across continents to help iconic animal guardians battle against a creeping and returning environmental threat – known as the Great Murk!
Thanks to the Playing for the Planet Alliance and their mission to bring Nature into the world’s most popular games, this special NatureBlight event has been created as part of the studio’s second participation in the annual Green Game Jam.
In NatureBlight, players will be teleported through Orna’s fantasy world to real-world locations deeply impacted by ecological challenges. From the icy edges of the Antarctic Peninsula to the vibrant Coral Reefs of Oceania, each region introduces a unique animal ally and story inspired by real-world environmental issues.
Players will be able to travel to the respective homely habitat of each animal guardian:
- The Beaver – Prince Edward County, Canada
- Coral Reef – Oceania
- Mountain Gorilla – Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Uganda
- Bone Mammoth – Dunkerque, France
- Giant Tortoise – Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
- Giant Panda – Chengdu, China
- Macaroni Penguin – Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica
With each destination, players will uncover how the otherworldly Terran people impacted their similar nature - from deforestation to pollution and even extinction - this is also the story of how another worldly society altered its planet’s ecosystems and endangered its species.
By completing quests and fending off the spreading pollution-based blight, Orna players will nurture themselves in nature on a worldly journey wrapped in epic elemental battles against the planet-threatening Murk. There’s also a chance to befriend and earn the friendship of any of the Animal Guardian followers, who will continue to be by your side after the blight has gone.
Take on the Murks:
A mix of Murk Monsters available for all players that have reached Tiers: 3*, 6*, 9*
Murk Raids are in need of experienced players from later Tiers: 8*, 9*, 10*
As part of Northern Forge Studios' commitment to real-world impact, the studio has also partnered with green organization PlanetPlay, to launch an eco-themed NatureBlight in-app purchase pack, full of character sprites, Origin Town cosmetics and consumable booster content.
The eco-building sprites will be available for the event duration, allowing players to decorate their kingdoms with environmental flair, while also supporting global sustainability with PlanetPlay. 50% of proceeds from the NatureBlight Pack will therefore be donated to current reforestation efforts in Indonesia.
“We’re using the magic of Orna to tell and pass on stories of our planet, while also introducing a whole new cast of friendly followers,” said Josh O’Reilly, Marketing Mage at Northern Forge Studios. “Natureblight connects fantasy with firm facts - informing players with fun, storied content while inspiring meaningful action through play.”
The NatureBlight event will run globally in-game starting May 30, 2025. Join the battle, meet the animals, and help heal the world - with every defeated Murk!
About Northern Forge Studios:
Northern Forge Studios is a company founded on the premise of creating games that deliver a nostalgic, honest, and classic experience blended with modern technology.
The studio was born via a technical experiment that married the love of a golden age of gaming with the GPS capabilities of our mobile devices.
Today, we are building a business and brand that evokes those emotions and offers a fair value proposition that promotes respect for both developer and player.
We are a strong, mighty, nimble, experimental, modest, and ambitious team, forged together as a small independent studio, with a vision and mission to create ageless mobile gaming entertainment that has a positive impact on the people that play it.
Orna: the GPS RPG game:
Orna is a mobile game that merges the adventure of GPS-based exploration with the rich and immersive elements contained in classic role-playing games. Orna’s blend of real-world exploration and traditional RPG mechanics bring a sense of adventure to your everyday life.
As you navigate around the real world, your in-game character mirrors your movements, unveiling new adventures and challenges in your local vicinity and surroundings.
Whether you’re defending your territory or setting out to explore new lands, Orna offers endless excitement and strategic depth for all fans and enthusiasts of RPG & MMO games.
Orna has maintained a passionate community, some who have been playing with us for 7 years. The game is localized into 18 different languages, and has grown to over 4 million global players so far.