• Category Archives City of Heroes

  • NCSoft Q4 Finances: Sales/Profit Down

    Posted on February 15, 2012 by Omali 2 Comments

    NCSoft has posted their fourth quarter finances. Sales were hit with a 6% loss since the last quarter, with operating profit reportedly taking a 51% hit and net income down 42% since last quarter. NCSoft attributes the decline in sales and profits due to scaled back in-game item sales.

    Year over year sales from 2011 compared to 2010 saw a similar drop in revenue by 7%, operating income by 24%, and income by 21%, due to what NCSoft refers to as a weakened user base, and an expansion in research and development. Labor costs increased 9%, marketing increased 25%, and variable expenses grew 7%.

    You can see from the chart above that Lineage has continued its dip in sales, which NCSoft attributes to a lack of item sales in-game. Lineage II’s sales opened up somewhat, attributed in the release to “roust sales in Japan.” Aion saw a dip in sales of about 8%, as did Guild Wars (22%), and City of Heroes has shown a 22% increase in sales over Q3.

    In terms of regional breakdown, Korea’s stake in NCSoft dived from 69% in Q3 to 60% in Q4. North America rose from 4% to 5% while Europe dipped from 3% to 2%. Japan almost doubled its share, from 12% to 21%, while Taiwan lowered its share from 3% down to 2%. Royalties increased to 10% from 8%.

    City of Heroes and Lineage II went free to play recently, with Aion moving free to play in Europe.

    (Source: NCSoft Finances)

    This entry was posted in Aion, City of Heroes, Editorials, Guild Wars, Hot Titles, Lineage 2, Live and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • NCSoft Outsourcing European Hosting?

    Posted on January 19, 2012 by Omali Comment

    You know, I hadn’t really noticed until tonight how small NCSoft’s library has become in the west. With the shuttering of Lineage, Auto Assault, Tabula Rasa, Exteel, and Dungeon Runners, us westerners are left with Aion, City of Heroes, Guild Wars, and Lineage 2. Four titles? Granted, we have Blade & Soul (hopefully) coming out at the end of this year, and Wildstar and Lineage Eternal coming at some point in the future.

    I can’t help but notice, however, that NCSoft’s personal appearance in Europe has taken a lesser role recently. Lineage II’s European service was recently handed over to Innova for the free to play transition, and when Aion goes free to play early this year, Gameforge is taking over service of that title. So far this is only on NCSoft’s titles in Europe that have transitioned to free to play, with the exception of City of Heroes in which case the two services (US/EU) were merged into one under NCSoft. This leaves Guild Wars.

    If I’m lucky, NCSoft will answer my emails about future title publishing.

    This entry was posted in Aion, City of Heroes, Hot Titles, Lineage 2, Lineage Eternal, Live and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • NCSoft Third Quarter Finances: Profit/Revenues Down

    Posted on November 9, 2011 by Omali Comment

    NCSoft has released its financial documents for the third quarter, and the report starts with “Revenue and Operating Income came down due to soft promotions for in-game items sales versus Q2.” In fact, the publisher is reporting a 22% loss quarter over quarter and 32% year over year loss in operating profit, as well as a 12% loss in sales over last quarter, and a 33% loss in net income over the same quarter.

    Income from Aion rose slightly over the last quarter, with Lineage coming down from its big jump. Lineage 2 lost less than it did last quarter, while income from Guild Wars continued its decline and City of Heroes increased slightly. Lineage’s loss of revenue is noted as being related to scaling back of cash shop items in the game’s Korean and Taiwan distributions. The quarter over quarter expense increase is due to NCsoft’s Japan donation.

    Now to talk region distribution. North America’s share dropped 10% over last quarter, with Europe dropping 6% of its sales. Japan’s share increased 6% over last quarter, with Korea dropping 13% and royalties taking a dip as well.

    Next quarter will see a dramatic rise in sales by City of Heroes, and hopefully Aion with the number of content updates. The announcement of Lineage Eternal should bring some interest to the other two games.

    This entry was posted in Aion, City of Heroes, Hot Titles, Lineage 2, Live and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • City of Heroes Officially Free

    Posted on September 27, 2011 by Omali Comment

    Dust the cobwebs off of that old City of Heroes account, kids, because everyone’s favorite super hero MMO from that time only us old people remember is officially free. For new players, head on over to this website to get started with a new account. For prior subscribers, all you have to do is log in and away you go. As I pointed out last week, if you are still running the old standalone launcher, you’re going to have to upgrade to NCsoft’s in-house client.

    New to City of Heroes? Check out the new user guide. Otherwise, get in there and get fighting for good…or evil.

    This entry was posted in City of Heroes, Live and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • Help I Can’t Connect To City of Heroes!

    Posted on September 24, 2011 by Omali Comment

    The “Hellgate: Stuck At Waterloo Bridge” article went over very well, so I’m expanding the series. If you are like me, you woke up this morning and immediately checked your account on NCsoft’s website, and booted up that old City of Heroes client you hadn’t touched in about a year. Again, if you are like me you were met with a “cannot connect to server” error, in which case you missed the above warning at the verification page.

    Earlier this year, NCsoft discontinued the separate client for City of Heroes. In order to play, you will need to have the NCsoft launcher and may or may not have to download the game over again. I had to download around three gigabytes of data. For those of you who would rather not jump on the horse before it’s born, so to speak, you can check your account info on NCsoft’s website. If your account has been activated, you will see your City of Heroes profile marked as a playable and free account.

    Happy brawling.

    This entry was posted in City of Heroes, Live and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • City Of Heroes: Past Subscribers Come Back Early

    Posted on September 23, 2011 by Omali Comment

    City of Heroes: Freedom, the MMO’s foray into free to play, begins sometime this coming week. To entice past players back into the game, NCsoft is reactivating old accounts ahead of time with premium membership, a tier for those who had previously subscribed to the game.

    It’s important to note the warning in NCsoft’s announcement that the account reactivation is rolling and not instantaneous, so you may not get in for the first day or so. You also won’t have access to any of the VIP features, including premium power sets. posting on the forums, and a few other restrictions you can find in the side-by-side comparison sheet.

    More to come on City of Heroes: Freedom, very soon.

    This entry was posted in City of Heroes, Live and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • NCsoft Q2 Release: Profits Up, Aion/Lineage 2 Down

    Posted on August 18, 2011 by Omali Comment

    The first thing you’ll notice about NCsoft’s quarterly report for the second quarter of 2011 is a massive spike in sales from Lineage. NCsoft attributes this to strong item sales promotions. As of now, Lineage is the company’s best source of income, despite the game’s removal from its Western presence just a couple of months ago. Lineage’s item sales have propelled a 67% year over year increase in income, despite a 1% decline in overall sales over the same period. City of Heroes and Guild Wars continued a slow decline, although City of Heroes will undoubtedly hit an increase in sales once the game goes free to play later this year.

    Lineage’s success, however, comes on the heels of both Lineage II and Aion dropping a hefty amount, attributed to “slow seasonality” in the report. I talked last year about NCsoft’s regional breakdown in sales, as a response to why some western gamers described feeling like NCsoft doesn’t pay the hemisphere as much attention. As of Q2 2010, the regional breakdown is as such:

    1. Korea: 64%
    2. Japan: 10%
    3. Royalties: 7%
    4. N. America: 9%
    5. Europe: 5%
    6. Taiwan: 3%

    Those figures in Q2 2011:

    1. Korea: 71%
    2. Japan: 10%
    3. Royalties: 9%
    4. N. America: 4%
    5. Europe: 3%
    6. Taiwan: 3%
    This entry was posted in Aion, City of Heroes, Editorials, Hot Titles, Lineage 2, Live and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • City of Heroes Free To Play Coming

    Posted on June 21, 2011 by Omali Comment

    Age of Conan isn’t the only game getting in the spotlight. City of Heroes is the first big name Superhero MMO, launching in 2004 and since spawning two expansion packs, twenty “issues” (big content updates), and countless holiday events. Despite the game’s obvious decline in subscribers as it has aged, City of Heroes has managed to survive the competition of Champions Online and the recently released DC Universe Online, while maintaining its level of income.

    So imagine my surprise when NCSoft announced today that City of Heroes will go free to play. Free players will have access to heroes and villains up to level 50, with 45 zones of content, 8 archetypes over two characters, and 105 power sets. The veteran rewards program is being discontinued, instead VIP players will receive points for every month they are subscribed, which can be used to purchase the rewards previously found in the veterans program. Veteran reward points will be transferred over, even if you do not subscribe.

    There will be a VIP only server, although the current 15 servers will remain intact. Free players will not have access to super groups (guilds), Whisper chat, in-game mail, posting on the forums, limited auction house, and of course queue priority and VIP server access. Free players will have to purchase access to the mission architect, inventions, purchase server transfers, and will not have access to in-game customer support.

    Given the success of previous game (don’t forget the 1000% increase in revenue for Champions Online), there is only one way to spell this out for NCsoft: l-o-d-s of e-m-o-n-e, and what does that spell? Loadsa money!

    …Probably…

    This entry was posted in City of Heroes, Live and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • NCsoft Q1 2011 Finances In: Profits Up!

    Posted on May 17, 2011 by Omali Comment

    It’s that time of the year already, the first quarter financial reports are starting to stream in. Last year wasn’t so great for NCsoft, considering they lost a $28 million lawsuit against Richard Garriot. Sales of Aion, Lineage, and City of Heroes went down, while Lineage 2, Guild Wars, and NCsoft’s other titles saw a brief increase.

    Another point worth noting is the American presence in NCsoft’s portfolio: It’s dropping. Whereas North America made up 12% of NCsoft’s sales in Q4 2009 (23,733), this figure has plummeted to 5% in Q1 2011 (or a paltry 7,129). Similarly, NCsoft’s presence in Japan and Taiwan has been suffering, albeit not nearly as much, and Europe has also plummeted from 12% down to 4% since Q4 2009. Royalties have skyrocketed, around 50% higher than the same time in Q1 2010. This is attributed mostly to Aion’s performance in China.

    Although these figures look great for NCsoft as a whole, they don’t really spell well for the Western markets for the coming years. As sales continue to fall in North America and Europe, NCsoft continues to shut down games, with the most recent being Lineage (just in the west) this June. Perhaps the trend can turn around with NCsoft’s upcoming titles: Blade and Soul, Lineage III, and Guild Wars 2 are looking to draw in big crowds, with Guild Wars 2 likely being the first to launch.

    I’ll be keeping watch on NCsoft as I always do.

    This entry was posted in Aion, City of Heroes, Hot Titles, Lineage 2 and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • City of Heroes Global: Sooner Than Expected

    Posted on May 7, 2011 by Omali Comment

    Back in March, we learned the NCsoft was planning on merging the world of City of Heroes, to allow interaction between North American and European accounts. Rather than merging servers, the services themselves were to be merged, with players given access to both services as one grand list. In the original announcement NCsoft praised the move as allowing for more interaction, as well as equality in updates and functionality.

    The good news just keeps coming, as the City of Heroes team announced today that the service is coming sooner than expected. Originally estimated “by the end of summer,” the service will be merged next week, on the 10th. Players of the European service are expected to read the Frequently Asked Questions, as their login details may change as a result of the merger.

    You can read the announcement here: http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/news_archive/global_server_access_is_nigh.html

    The FAQ can be read here: http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/news_archive/one_game_one_global_server_acc.html

    This entry was posted in City of Heroes, Live and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.


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