NCSOFT to take Lineage M global
NCSOFT CEO Kim Taek-jin speaks during a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of NCSOFT
By Baek Byung-yeul
NCSOFT's mega-hit mobile game “Lineage M” is set to make its global debut, the Korean gaming firm announced Tuesday.
During a press conference commemorating the first anniversary of its mobile role-playing game (RPG) Lineage M, NCSOFT CEO Kim Taek-jin said the firm has been preparing for the global launch of the mobile game.
“With Lineage M, we will challenge the global market. Under the motto of All New Lineage M we are developing a global version,” Kim told reporters.
NCSOFT developed the mobile version of its popular online RPG Lineage, and released it last June. Since then it has been the most popular app both on the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store in Korea and Taiwan.
NCSOFT officials said they formed a special team for the mobile game's global launching. Japan is expected to become the first country to see the game.
Stating that Lineage M will have a major update soon, Kim also announced there will be a very high degree of visual resolutions in the updated Lineage M.
While the mobile version is a just another version of the original Lineage game, Kim added Lineage M will feature its own characters only for Lineage M players.
The major update called “Black Flame,” will be released May 30 and NCSOFT is currently receiving pre-registration for the update. To celebrate its one year anniversary, the company said it has prepared a variety of in-game items for subscribers.
NCSOFT also announced the original Lineage will be redesigned for full high-definition resolution with an improved user experience. The firm said this is to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the online game. Since NCSOFT released Lineage in 1998, it has remained a major profit source for the firm.
Thanks to the huge success of Lineage M, NCSOFT logged a strong performance in the first three months of this year.
In a regulatory filing, the gaming firm reported a net profit of 119.2 billion won ($110.3 million) in the first quarter of this year, up 585.1 percent from a year earlier. Its operating profit also jumped 569.68 percent to 203.9 billion won on sales of 475.2 billion won.
The company said Lineage M played a significant role as the mobile game logged daily sales of around 2.6 billion to 2.9 billion won during the cited period.