(File photo by NCSOFT)
South Korea’s gaming giant NCSOFT Corp. is set to develop an open-world massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) while launching a new title this week to boost its sluggish earnings.
In video games, an open world is a virtual world in which the player can approach objectives freely, as opposed to a world with more linear and structured gameplay. Famous games in this category include Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.’s Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series, which has generated $8.9 billion by 2023, and Microsoft Corp.’s Minecraft.
NCSOFT is hiring developers for a science fiction (SF) MMORPG under the category with a post-apocalyptic background, which describes or relates to the situation after the destruction of the world, information technology industry sources on Tuesday.
Post-apocalyptic games are as famous as open-world titles among players in the US and Europe.
TO TARGET GAME PLAYERS IN THE US, EUROPE
The developer of the blockbuster Lineage series aims to expand its presence into the West with the new open-world MMORPG, industry sources in Seoul said.
“We will look for chances to make a foray into Europe,” said NCSOFT co-CEO Park Byungmoo at Gamescom 2024, the world’s largest computer games trade fair, on Aug. 21 in Cologne, Germany.
An open-world game requires advanced technology for development as it needs various content to bolster users’ freedom while delicately realizing virtual worlds.
NCSOFT plans to elevate players’ freedom by utilizing various activities in the game such as hunting and apply high-quality graphic technology used for LLL, its shooting game for PCs and consoles to be released next year.
BREAKTHROUGH
The gaming behemoth needs new box-office hit titles to cut its reliance on the Lineage series and revive sluggish earnings. Its operating profit tumbled 75% to 8.8 billion won ($6.6 million) in the second quarter from a year earlier.
The recently launched games have yet to boost earnings.
Throne and Liberty (TL), its MMORPG to be sold overseas markets through Amazon Games on Oct. 1, was launched in South Korea last December but failed to attract local users.
(File photo by NCSOFT)
NCSOFT is scheduled to stop on Wednesday the service of Puzzup Amitoi, a puzzle game released last September. Battle Crush, an action-packed fighting game launched in June 2023, has yet to make a remarkable success.
The company plans to introduce Hoyeon, a collectible MMORPG based on the intellectual property of its Wuxia-themed MMORPG Blade & Soul, on the day.
It aims to ease criticisms over the Lineage series’ profit model of loot boxes, in-game lucky draws through Hoyeon.
“Hoyeon is expected to serve as a stepping stone for those biased against NCSOFT,” said Ko Kihwan, the company’s executive producer captain.
Hoyeon (Courtesy of NCSOFT)
By Ju-Hyun Lee and Dong-Jin Hwang
deep@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.
