02/2007
“We’re going through very difficult times”
These heartfelt words uttered by NCsoft’s CEO Tack jin Kim last year at a Culturual Exploration meeting say much about NCsoft’s current situation.
* Tack jin Kim (NCsoft President)
More than one MMORPG a year!
So is it realistic for NCsoft to release one MMORPG a year?
Yes, is the short answer, and then some. 2007 is slated for the launch of ‘Aion’ and ‘Tabula Rasa’. ‘Tabula Rasa’ has already started recruiting closed beta testers, and ‘Aion’ is currently in internal testing. Hints from NCsoft’s employees say that ‘Aion’ is coming together faster than expected. The game will enter the closed beta stage before summer of 2007 arrives in full.
- Lineage 3, The next release in the Lineage series, is aimed for a 2008 launch. (Note: This has presumably been delayed due to the recent dismissing of Lineage 3’s Project Manager)
Also in the plans are 3-4 other MMORPGs of various genres including one based on martial arts.
Although it remains to be seen what kind of success these planned MMO games will draw, it certainly promises a constant output of products from their development staff. An employee of NCsoft confessed that “there was a lot of restructuring in 2005-2006 because of concerns over infrastructure” and reassured that “this process is now complete and you will see us back in production mode”.
This year marks the completion of a successful decade for NCsoft. As they prepare themselves for further growth in the new year it will be interesting to see what changes this brings to the industry as a whole.
March 28, 2008 at 9:48 am |
April 5, 2008 at 9:02 am |
2008? More like 2011.