Tabula Rasa's development timeline starts in May 2001, where it was initially slated to become a fantasy-themed title. The game underwent a major revamp two years into the project. Conflicts between developers and the vague direction of the game were said to be the causes of this dramatic change. 25% of the original team were replaced and 75% of the code had to be redone.[1] First re-shown at E3 2005, the game then transformed into the current science fiction setting and look.
On January 5, 2007, closed beta sign ups started for Tabula Rasa. On May 2, 2007, NCsoft officially announced the start of the closed beta. Previously, beta invites were given out specifically to contest winners. As of August 8, 2007, several thousand additional beta keys were made available via the FilePlanet[2] and Eurogamer[3] websites. The Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) for the Beta was lifted on September 5th. The beta test phase ended on October 26th, with a themed event of players being invited to take down General British.
The US and European versions of Tabula Rasa went live on November 2, 2007. Pre-orderers were given a 3-day head start.