Group Admins
That uniqueness comes from NCSOFT’s pedigree as one of the first-ever online game developers, launching Lineage in 1998, only a year after NCSOFT officially formed. Since then, the company has released Blade and Soul NEO Classic Divine Gems incredibly popular and influential MMOs over the years, finding incredible success across Korea and in other Asian markets. However, it has always struggled to find a solid foothold here in the West, despite a dedicated following of hardcore players. This popularity, especially with Lineage, has helped NCSOFT boast over 200 million registered players across all of their games, with the vast bulk coming from the Lineage series.
It’s important to note that NC America is not handling the operations of ArenaNet or publishing Guild Wars 2 here in the West. That is still technically being handled by NCSOFT West, which is a separate entity from NC America (confused yet?). As far as the relationship between NC America and ArenaNet, JJ likens it to a “brother and sister” relationship.
Both of us are under NCSOFT and NCSOFT’s brand. And we’re the only two entities operating our games in the West under NCSOFT. So I think for now, we are not publishing ArenaNet titles, but we are just now sharing some insights and information and ArenaNet is taking care of the Guild Wars franchise on their own.
Yet this arrangement still bred confusion about what NC America is and what is going on with NCSOFT West. The most important thing to know, however, is that moving forward, NC America is handling the publishing for the Korean developer here in the West, with the exception of ArenaNet’s portfolio.
Late last year, NCSoft announced it was investing in two studios outside their normal MMO wheelhouse, a third-person time-survival shooter made by Korean studio Mistil Games called Time Takers, and Band of Crusaders, a strategy RPG set during the European Middle Ages made by Polish developer Virtual Academy. These partnerships show that NC America, and NCSOFT by extension, aren’t simply content to rest on the laurels of their previously established brands, but instead are willing to invest in new ideas and studios that have the potential to break through, especially in the Western market. JJ says that there could be even more on the horizon as the months and year goes by.
“We are trying to bring more titles from NCSOFT, and one of the goals is also a diversified portfolio. And that’s the same with the headquarters because we’re so well known for the MMORPG genre, I think that was a little like a double-edged sword for us.” However, while diversifying the portfolio here is a good thing, it’s not going to stop NCSOFT and NC America from doubling down on what it does great: MMOs. As such, this year we’ll see the release of a remastered version of Blade and Soul, called cheap BnS NEO Classic Divine Gems. Launched in Korea a few months back, the remaster has seen quite a bit of adoption since its release, according to JJ, and part of announcing this release was to start to bring something to the West that they could do rather quickly.