NCSOFT pinning high hopes on success of 'Lineage 2M'

Poster for NCSOFT's mobile game "Lineage 2M" / Courtesy of NCSOFT

By Baek Byung-yeul

NCSOFT is gearing up for a launch of its upcoming mobile role-playing game “Lineage 2M,” expecting it will provide a huge leap for the company.

The country's top game company said Wednesday the mobile RPG will hit the market in the fourth quarter of 2019.

NCSOFT is attracting high expectations from game fans, receiving more than 3 million preorders within only five days after it started to receive orders on Sept. 5.

“'Lineage 2M' is a mobile version of popular PC online game Lineage 2. Based on the high reputation of the PC version, NCSOFT aims to attract both fans of the original version and mobile game fans,” an official of the company said.

The original PC version is one of the representative games of NCSOFT as it has been serviced in some 70 countries in Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the U.S. and European countries.

Since it was released in 2003, the RPG has been well-received, sweeping prizes at the 2003 Korea Game Awards including the top honor President's Award, the best technology award and the best graphic award.

“When the game hit the market, many game fans were wowed by the superior quality of its full 3D graphics. The new level of 3D world Lineage 2 showcased marked a beginning of 3D graphic-based RPGs in the Korean game industry,” the company said.

An image of NCSOFT's mobile game "Lineage 2M" / Courtesy of NCSOFT

The high popularity of “Lineage 2” also created a precedent that online games can become a huge cultural phenomenon.

Facing a game clan that carried out player killings indiscriminately and controlled the item trading market in “Lineage 2,” more than 200,000 users waged a war for four years from 2004 to 2008 and gained a victory.

The historic event, now called “the Bartz Liberation War,” is remembered as an iconic moment for mimicking real-world conflicts in virtual space.

NCSOFT said the mobile game will be an upgraded version of the original. It will come with full 3D graphics and have a wider map, which will be the largest ever among mobile RPGs developed by Korean companies. As seen in the PC version, users can engage in large-scale battles between clans as well.