NCSoft treats new MMORPG like the unloved stepchild, but is looking forward to Aion 2

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NCSoft’s latest financial report for the second quarter of 2024 once again reveals some exciting details. However, the publisher’s currently most important MMORPG is once again being ignored like an unloved stepchild.

What is the information from the new financial report? Below are the key takeaways from NCSoft’s Q2 2024 financial report (via ncsoft.com):

  • NCSoft’s management is unlikely to be too happy with the financial results. Sales fell by 16 percent compared to the previous year, and operating profits fell by as much as 75 percent.
  • Revenues from mobile games have fallen particularly sharply, by 13 percent compared to the previous quarter. Sales from PC games have also fallen by six percent.
  • NCSoft’s most successful PC game is currently Lineage, followed by Guild Wars 2, Lineage 2, Aion and – far behind – Blade & Soul.
  • The release of Aion 2 is still planned for 2025. In addition, a new MMORPG based on a world-famous IP is said to be in development, which is scheduled to be released in 2026 and will use the Unreal Engine 5.

    • NCSoft has big ambitions with Aion 2, here is the trailer:

    AION 2 shows the gameplay of the MMORPG in the trailer

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    Not a word about Throne and Liberty

    Isn’t an important game missing? As in the previous quarter, NCSoft officials did not reveal any figures in the current report for the MMORPG Throne and Liberty, which was launched in Korea in December 2023.

    T&L is currently the hottest iron from the South Korean game studio. Three months ago, this was already interpreted as a sign that the publisher was dissatisfied with T&L’s results. There have already been a number of measures to improve the situation:

    Since NCSoft does not release any official figures, it is impossible to say whether these measures have already had a noticeable impact on the success of Throne and Liberty. However, after the worldwide launch on September 17, 2024 at the latest, the listed company will no longer be able to avoid putting these results on the table.

    What do I need to know about Aion 2? The successor to Aion is set 900 years before the first part, will be released for PC and mobile devices and will be NCSoft’s new flagship MMORPG. The team working on the project is accordingly large: An MMORPG with wings was once a competitor for WoW: Now 240 developers are reportedly working on Aion 2

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