Tag: NCSoft

City of Heroes Isn’t Going Down Without A Fight


NCSoft may have announced that City of Heroes is shutting down on November 30th, but that doesn’t mean the community (or Paragon Studios for that matter) are going down without a fight. Since the announcement, the community has rallied in multiple ways, from encouraging users to write to NCSoft, setting up rallies in-game and on the official forums, and signing petitions to keep the game running. The petition has so far amassed over thirteen thousand signatures.

And Paragon Studios isn’t going down without a fight either. According to a post on the City of Heroes forum:

Alpha Wolf: Sorry guys but I don’t have any new update. I know Paragon management is having discussion with ncsoft and investors. Continue get people to sign online petitions, post on game forums, and just continue to make noises so ncsoft cannot ignore players.

Naturally this isn’t a guarantee that anything will come of the talks, but it offers hope to Paragon’s longstanding community.

(Source: Titan Network)

City of Heroes Isn't Going Down Without A Fight


NCSoft may have announced that City of Heroes is shutting down on November 30th, but that doesn’t mean the community (or Paragon Studios for that matter) are going down without a fight. Since the announcement, the community has rallied in multiple ways, from encouraging users to write to NCSoft, setting up rallies in-game and on the official forums, and signing petitions to keep the game running. The petition has so far amassed over thirteen thousand signatures.

And Paragon Studios isn’t going down without a fight either. According to a post on the City of Heroes forum:

Alpha Wolf: Sorry guys but I don’t have any new update. I know Paragon management is having discussion with ncsoft and investors. Continue get people to sign online petitions, post on game forums, and just continue to make noises so ncsoft cannot ignore players.

Naturally this isn’t a guarantee that anything will come of the talks, but it offers hope to Paragon’s longstanding community.

(Source: Titan Network)

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.

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.

City Of Heroes Sunsetting Later This Year


In a news post on the City of Heroes website today, Andy Belford has announced that Paragon Studios will be shutting down, and City of Heroes will be closing by the end of the year. The reason given in the article is “realignment of company focus” at NCSoft. Effective immediately, all subscription services and paragon purchases will be halted.

Thank you. Thank you for your years of support. You’ve been with us every step of the way, sharing in our challenges, encouraging us to make City of Heroes better, more than everyone else thought it could be. We couldn’t have come this far without you. I implore you all, focus on the good things of CoH and Paragon Studios. Don’t dwell on the “how” or the “why”, but rather join us in celebrating the legacy of an amazing partnership between the players and the development team.

More information will be coming within a few weeks. It appears NCSoft hasn’t picked up any (or much) of the Paragon Studios team, because Belford pitched this:

To any potential studios looking to grow your team; hire these people. You won’t regret it.

City of Heroes launched in 2004 as the first, and in many minds the best, super hero MMO. Since then it has gone on to release 22 issues (major updates), and three expansion packs. In June of last year, City of Heroes adopted a free to play model.

(Source: Paragon Studios)

Falling Out Returns Again!


Not that this will prevent any hate-mail, but I’ve included a nice chart on NCSoft’s sales for reference. Falling Out releases a new edition every Monday.

Can We Stop Asking If TERA Will Be Shut Down Now?


Back when I was covering the TERA beta, I received a lot of messages from players who wanted to buy the game, but were afraid to because of the lawsuit between En Masse Entertainment. People were afraid that NCSoft had a chance of winning the lawsuit, and would have the game shut down in North America (and possibly Europe) as a result. Well, according to a press release by EME, the lawsuit has been settled and TERA will not be shutting down. As part of the settlement, En Masse maintains its innocence and has stated that the company will maintain its focus on TERA in the coming future.

“En Masse Entertainment confirms it has settled with NCsoft over the TERA-related lawsuit in the US. In doing so, En Masse Entertainment maintains its innocence and looks forward to refocusing the company’s full attention to TERA, its fans, and its future.”

As for the full details of the settlement, you can probably expect to see those somewhere in the realm of never.

(Source: Press release)

NCSoft Q2 2012: Profits Down, Revenue Up


NCSoft has released its finances for the second quarter of 2012, and considering that the major MMO news sites suddenly care enough to report on it, I can only assume that there is some drama to be had. Compared to last quarter, revenues are up thanks to solid Lineage sales and royalties, however NCSoft is in the red on operating profit and net income due to what the company refers to as “one-off labor costs.” Here are the bullet points of important details to explain why NCSoft’s profits sunk so low:

  • Lineage sales were strong Korea, however Aion sales tanked due to “scaled back in-game item sales.”
  • Labor costs surged 27% this past quarter due to severance-pay.
  • Royalty expenses increased 35%
  • Marketing expenses were up 112% over last quarter due to Blade & Soul
  • D&A increased 28%
  • NCSoft’s acquisition of Ntreev also ended up being a major cost.

While sales in Korea and Japan held strong, sales in North America continued a slight decline over last quarter. Europe has been hit the hardest, with sales decreasing to virtually nothing (less than 1% of sales for the quarter).

The launch of Guild Wars 2 is expected to make up for any losses incurred this quarter.

50,000 Guild Wars 2 Beta Keys From Curse.com


Guild Wars 2 releases at the end of next month, meaning the opportunities for beta testing are winding down. Luckily, Curse.com has your back. Both general members and premium subscribers will be able to grab one of over 50,000 beta keys to the upcoming weekend event. The beta event lasts from July 20th to the 22nd, and the keys are being doled out on a first come, first serve basis. Ten thousand are Curse.com premium subscriber only, while the rest require just a general Curse.com account.

Make sure you read the rules clearly, especially for European users. The giveaway may not be applicable in your country.

North American Giveaway

European Giveaway