Tag: MMO Culture

NCSoft Employees Caught Embezzling Development Funds


project_hon_cover

MMO Culture is reporting that three staff members have been fired after it was discovered that they were embezzling funds from Project HON, with the possibility that the police may become involved. It was apparently discovered that a third party company had been hired to handle graphics development with ties to the three employees.

This is not the first time NCSoft employees have been accused of criminal actions. Back in 2012, a Korean court convicted three employees of Bluehole Studios for leaking trade secrets about Lineage III, ordering the trio to pay a fine of two billion won.

(Source: MMO Culture)

Blade & Soul Now F2P In Japan


cat

MMO Culture is reporting that Blade & Soul has officially gone free to play in Japan. Players are able to play for free with an optional VIP membership, with details for that coming later this month.

The article notes that players in Korea are upset at NCSoft now that Korea is apparently the last remaining pay-to-play region for Blade & Soul

(Source: MMO Culture)

Dragonball MMO Isn’t Coming To The West


Dragon-Ball-Online-screenshot-0

Here at MMO Fallout, I have a list of foreign MMOs that fall into my Do Not Report file. This list is reserved for games that, in my untested and unscientific opinion, are likely to never hit western shores. The idea isn’t all that radical, when you consider that a majority of MMOs shut down within a couple of years after launch and how expensive localization is. In the case of Dragonball Online, my hunch was correct. According to MMO Culture, the game is set to shut down in all of its territories, after which the lights will be flipped off and everyone will go home. The Korean server has already been shut down and the server in Taiwan will be shuttering on October 31st.

If you were hoping to see the game release in English, you are sadly out of luck.

(Source: MMO Culture)

Dragonball MMO Isn't Coming To The West


Dragon-Ball-Online-screenshot-0

Here at MMO Fallout, I have a list of foreign MMOs that fall into my Do Not Report file. This list is reserved for games that, in my untested and unscientific opinion, are likely to never hit western shores. The idea isn’t all that radical, when you consider that a majority of MMOs shut down within a couple of years after launch and how expensive localization is. In the case of Dragonball Online, my hunch was correct. According to MMO Culture, the game is set to shut down in all of its territories, after which the lights will be flipped off and everyone will go home. The Korean server has already been shut down and the server in Taiwan will be shuttering on October 31st.

If you were hoping to see the game release in English, you are sadly out of luck.

(Source: MMO Culture)

XL Games Layoffs Coming, Says Report


archeage

MMO Culture is reporting via Media IT that XL Games is about to undergo restructuring after the poor performance of ArcheAge in Korea. According to the report, recent updates including siege equipment were not received well by the community, with many complaints focused around ongoing balance issues between classes. The company’s decision to move ArcheAge over to free to play was apparently not successful enough to turn over the declining revenues.

How this will affect ArcheAge in other territories, where the game has apparently met success in Japan and is set for launch in China with no release date in sight for North America and Europe, will have to be seen. The reports are, at this point, unconfirmed as no layoff has taken place yet.

(Source: MMO Culture)

Rift Shutting Down In Korea


riftfae1x

Games developed in the west that are then brought over to the east have a tendency to not break into the market enough to sustain profitibility. Rift’s death in Korea has arguably been written on the walls ever since Trion announced that the game would still be operating with a subscription despite the market’s heavy focus on free to play games with cash shops. Even World of Warcraft operates on a pay by the hour model in Asia.

So it comes as not so much of a surprise that Rift didn’t catch on in Korea. MMO Culture is reporting that Rift is being shut down under CJ E&M on April 25th, and players will be refunded for any subscriptions charged past April 17th and that the web shop will be closed March 28th. Rift has just recently gone into open beta in preparation for release in China.

(Source: MMO Culture)