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NCSOFT seeks global user base for upcoming games
A still image from "Throne and Liberty" / Courtesy of NCSOFT
By Ko Dong-hwan
Korean online game developer NCSOFT is ramping up marketing to global users as the company has expanded its consumer targets from Asia to North America and Europe with its new key games set for release next year.
The developer is currently working on Throne and Liberty, the company's fifth flagship multiplayer online role-playing game, and Battlecrush, a fighting action game. For both games, NCSOFT has partnered with global game companies outside the country to build quality and improve systems for global users.
This strategy differs from the Korean company's usual path in which it exclusively developed and serviced content itself.
NCSOFT said it partnered with Amazon Games for Throne and Liberty, with the American giant poised as the game's global publisher. Having conducted a closed beta test for the game that follows the company's previous legacies like the Lineage series and Blade and Soul, Amazon last month began a technical testing phase for the game.
NCSOFT said it will maintain close cooperation with Amazon to monitor the game's reception among foreign users and troubleshoot shortcomings.
A title card for Battlecrush / Courtesy of NCSOFT
For Battlecrush, set for release during the first half of next year, NCSOFT has partnered with Japan's Nintendo. The partnership will see the game available on online platforms like Nintendo Switch, Steam and mobile devices. The game is the Korean company's first to debut on Nintendo Switch.
A closed beta test for the game is set for later this month in 25 countries in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia.
Late last month, NCSOFT launched Puzzup Amitoi, a casual mobile puzzle game, to 35 different countries. It is another of the company's strategic moves to target international markets where casual games have been proven more popular.
NCSOFT's ongoing investment in global markets with the new games came after the company built up firm fanbases in Asia including Korea and Taiwan.