Tag: Korea

NCSoft’s Sales Per Region, Per Quarter, Mapped


Click on me to enlarge. I look much better zoomed in.

I’ve mapped out the sales per region over the entirety of NCSoft’s financial statements, dating back to the first quarter of 2005. You’ll see that Korea makes up more of NCsoft’s sales generally than every other region combined, and occasionally even doubled. Sales in North America and Europe peaked in 2009 and have been on a steady decline since, with European sales you will see becoming virtually nothing in Q2 2012 (less than 1% of total sales for the quarter). Japan has its ups and downs but is on a general incline, and Taiwan has been relatively stable since its tracking began in 2007. Royalty sales are on an incline, with a few stumbles along the way.

NCSoft may be banking on Guild Wars 2 to save its sales in North America and Europe. Guild Wars sold millions of copies and did quite well in the West. Shutting down City of Heroes will cut NCSoft’s income by a small amount, small beans compared to the sales of Guild Wars 2.

Just a few notes:

  • Units are KRW in Mn.
  • Up until Q3 2008, royalties were included in Korean sales.
  • Taiwan was not listed until Q1 2007.
  • Up until around 2006, NCSoft changed its label “US” to “North America.” For the sake of continuity, N. America has been used for the entire list.

Korean TERA Major Server Mergers Coming, Free To Play Possible


Since TERA launched in Korea well before North America and Europe, players have come to see it as sort of a litmus test for the game’s overall performance. Back in June 2011, we reported that TERA was not meeting financial expectations, and the game was forced into a merger bringing the number of servers from 35 down to 15.

Fast forward to today and once again TERA is apparently still hemorrhaging players. In a post on the game’s Korean website, a planned server consolidation will go into effect on June 28th which will target all thirteen remaining servers. When the dust settles, KTERA will only have four servers remaining of the original 37 it launched with.

On July 4th, TERA will launch a test server to gauge the possibility of free to play for the title. The server will be open for four weeks with a level cap of 50, and is quite the indicator that TERA plans on heading free to play (at least in Korea) as a final saving measure. There is so far no word or indication as to TERA’s performance in the west, and whether or not other territories will follow with a similar model.

(Source: KTERA Website)

(Source: Free to Play Announcement)

Diablo III Under Investigation In France, Germany, South Korea


Those of you paying attention here at MMO Fallout know from a previous article that Blizzard is currently under investigation by the South Korean Fair Trade Commission over complaints that Blizzard did not deliver on service for Diablo III players, and refused to offer refunds for those who could not access the game due to consistent server downtime. Blizzard’s offices were raided and the investigation is currently ongoing, but likely to end up in favor of the consumer.

In France, Blizzard was given 15 days by the consumer bureau to fix connections regarding Diablo III, an issue which still plagues the game in every continent. They are also asking Blizzard to compensate players for damages accrued due to downtime, and are requesting a formal investigation into the use of always-on DRM. If the server stability is not met, the consumer bureau intends on taking Blizzard to court.

In Germany, however, the issue is a little different. The Federation of German Consumer Organizations has stated that Blizzard is being held accountable for anti-trust violations. Diablo III is being investigated for not disclosing on boxes that the game required an internet connection to play in single player, as well as not disclosing that the game was unable to be resold due to the permanent connection with one’s battle.net account. Or if you want to use the original German translation, Blizzard are being investigated for Wettbewerbsverstöße abzugeben, which sounds a whole lot more threatening.

Granted, neither of the French or German groups have the power to impose punishments on Blizzard, they will have to take the company to court and have a judge hand down a verdict.

(Source: Incgamers)

Korean Supreme Court Finds Bluehole Innocent, Three Employees Guilty


Back when the internet was powered by Steam and everything cost a nickel NCSoft sued Bluehole Studios, a company made up of ex-Lineage III developers. There has been a bit of confusion with convictions being upheld while others were later appealed and overturned, and I hadn’t noticed that the case has made its way to the South Korean Supreme Court, who yesterday came out with their ruling.

Bluehole Studios has been found innocent of any charges of wrongdoing. However, three employees were convicted of leaking trade secrets and must both pay two billion won in restitution ($1.7 million USD, approximately). The story might be over for now for Bluehole Studios, but the three employees mentioned now face criminal charges for which sentencing will take place at a later date.

In January, NCSoft launched a lawsuit in the United States to keep TERA from releasing, and from the outside looking in this ruling does not bode well for a guilty verdict. While the case in Korea has successfully taken down those responsible for the theft, NCSoft has failed in their other objective: Shutting down TERA.

So those of you on the bench in regard to preordering TERA can probably breath a sigh of relief and grab those credit cards. TERA launches in just a few weeks.

(Source)

TERA Korea Patch Adds In Cosmetic Cash Shop


Ahoy, TERAns! The great part of being on the lower end of the development scale is that kTERA gets all of the updates before we do here in the West. On one hand this does annoy a certain portion of the base who see the developer playing favorites, but on the other hand you might also see the Korean community as something of a guinea pig, to taste test the content for poison before it is brought over to the west. We saw this particularly with the Russian community in Allods Online a couple of years ago and TERA is no exception.

Over on the Korean TERA front, Bluehole Studios has added in a cash shop featuring time-limited and unlimited cosmetic items. There are eye glasses that sell for $2.50 for 30 days or $4 for 365 days. The mount sells for about $21 for 365 days. Before you explode into the comments section, it is important to note that the 365 day label is a farce, the items are listed for 365 days also have a note that they do not get destroyed after 365 days.

While the cash shop is cosmetic, there are gameplay changers included. Each item gives the user a set amount of T-Cat coins (22-30 for glasses, 304 for horse) which can be used currently to purchase twelve hours of crystal protection (no longer lose crystals upon death) and special sealing scrolls which are normally expensive items and are used in crafting.

You can check out the items here. So far no word on the cash shop making its way to North American and Europe.

NCSoft, Nexon, Others Relieved Of Identity Attacks…


Over in Korea, players have a lot more to lose when a company leaks their information. Unlike in most other countries, players are often required to register to MMOs with the Korean equivalent of the social security number, and more than once data leaks have resulted in these numbers being readily available for the gaming public. An entire black market has surrounded these games, and at least once per year I am contacted by a group offering entrance into several Korean only betas with accounts registered with stolen identities.

Nexon made big news last month when they announced that the details of thirteen million accounts in Korea were stolen, including the Korean RRN (Resident Registration Number) in an encrypted format. In response, a number of Korean developers have announced plans to stop collecting Korean numbers and instead outsource the collection process to a third party agency. Rather than storing the sensitive data, the agency processes the RRN of the registrant, matches it up to the list, and reports to the developer if the person is an adult, child, nonexistent, or a bot.

Rather than jump on the bandwagon of hate, I think this is a good thing for everyone. Players no longer have to worry (as much) about their identity being stolen, and the developers have a massive load taken off of their backs. Korean MMOs require a player’s identification because the country has strict laws on minors playing certain games and during certain times, and requires companies to enforce such restrictions. As a result, developers have become prime targets for identity theft and security breaches by hackers in search of the delicious gooey center of personal data.

So developers not having access to your RRN can only be a good thing. For those of you in the states, would you trust Turbine or Sony with your social security number? Neither would I.

Rift: South Korea, and Let's Talk China


Before I begin, I wanted to talk about Rift and China, namely the statement flying around that Rift will never have a snowball’s chance at matching Blizzard’s subscriber numbers unless they release in China. The above statement is, of course, completely true. The issue this raises, however, is Rift’s odds at releasing in China, which don’t seem all that likely in the near future, or really ever. The main problem Rift faces is the concept of the undead, especially since the game already carried the River of Souls event, that based its entire concept around the idea of souls being plucked from the river of souls (where everyone goes at death) to serve as an undead army.

China and the undead don’t got along well, and World of Warcraft’s expansions were delayed for multiple years, following extensive censorship, before the games could be released. Skeletons are replaced by sacks of flour and scarecrows, blood is green, even undead insignia are replaced or removed outright.

Anyway, Rift is releasing in South Korea! Running through CJ E&M Games, Rift will makes it break into the east. According to Trion’s Lars Buttler:

 “We take the Korean market very seriously as it is driven by innovation and growth in the online gaming space. By working with CJ E&M we are able to bring deep, immersive online gaming experiences to the east, and continue delivering quality games to gamers worldwide.”

Well hopefully Rift will take the Korean community better than some Korean companies take the western community. Rift was the top selling PC retail game in North American in March, according to NPD. We’ll see if this success can transition over to Korea.

Rift: South Korea, and Let’s Talk China


Before I begin, I wanted to talk about Rift and China, namely the statement flying around that Rift will never have a snowball’s chance at matching Blizzard’s subscriber numbers unless they release in China. The above statement is, of course, completely true. The issue this raises, however, is Rift’s odds at releasing in China, which don’t seem all that likely in the near future, or really ever. The main problem Rift faces is the concept of the undead, especially since the game already carried the River of Souls event, that based its entire concept around the idea of souls being plucked from the river of souls (where everyone goes at death) to serve as an undead army.

China and the undead don’t got along well, and World of Warcraft’s expansions were delayed for multiple years, following extensive censorship, before the games could be released. Skeletons are replaced by sacks of flour and scarecrows, blood is green, even undead insignia are replaced or removed outright.

Anyway, Rift is releasing in South Korea! Running through CJ E&M Games, Rift will makes it break into the east. According to Trion’s Lars Buttler:

 “We take the Korean market very seriously as it is driven by innovation and growth in the online gaming space. By working with CJ E&M we are able to bring deep, immersive online gaming experiences to the east, and continue delivering quality games to gamers worldwide.”

Well hopefully Rift will take the Korean community better than some Korean companies take the western community. Rift was the top selling PC retail game in North American in March, according to NPD. We’ll see if this success can transition over to Korea.

Craig Morrison: F2P Age of Conan A Possibility


Rise of the Cash-Shop Slayer

With Age of Conan entering the Korean markets came the announcement that the title would follow the normal Korean model: Free to play with cash shop, leading some to speculate as to whether or not Funcom would transition the model over to the Western hemisphere. Over on the Funcom forums, Producer Craig Morrison chimed in to tell players that the free to play model is not planned to come over to the west, but that Funcom is not saying no forever (I’ve heard this phrase too many times this month).

“That isn’t a ‘yes, it will happen’ or a ‘No, it will never happen’ it’s a ‘We will always keep our options open and be open minded to business models that will most benefit the project.’…being close minded one way or another is rarely a good thing.”

He is correct. The Korean market is vastly different from the American and European markets, and subscription based games die fast. Even World of Warcraft runs in China on a pay-per-hour system.

“That is why we have different versions of the game. They are different markets, work in different ways, with different traditions and expectations and we will always endeavour to try and ensure the right decisions are made for the game in each specific territory, and for those decisions to be different as appropriate.”

So, for the time being, there will be no free to play Age of Conan in the west. More on Age of Conan as it appears.

Subsidies and Incentives And Government, What The Hell?


State Funded MMOs?

Today’s news gets stranger and stranger. Earlier today, it was reported that TERA, upcoming MMO by Bluehole Studios, has been subsidized by the Korean Government. As part of the Global Plan, the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has selected Bluehole to be part of their fund in an effort to expand Korea’s presence in the MMO realm (this is where you point out the hundred thousand Korean MMOs on the market). It is quite an exclusive program, and is one of nine projects selected.

Don’t worry, it gets stranger. Heading back over to the states, our news focuses on 38 Studios, which at this point in times is located in Massachusetts. As it seems, Rhode Island is very interested in having 38 Studios, with their upcoming MMO Copernicus, and they were willing to extend an olive branch. Granted, the olive branch already existed, but Rhode Island is offering 38 Studios a guaranteed $75 million loan in exchange for relocating the company. For a teeny tiny company like 38 Studios, the thought of a guaranteed $75 million must be a godsend (or a nightmare imagining paying that back).

Next time on MMO Fallout? I’m still waiting on the release of Kim Jong Ill’s MMO.