NCSoft has announced that its upcoming MMORPG ‘Throne and Liberty‘ will be launched globally in October in collaboration with Amazon Games. However, before the official launch, the companies plan to conduct closed beta tests (CBT) in South Korea and North America at the end of May.
The original launch schedule for the game was set for May, but it was delayed to accommodate synergies with Amazon, competition from games like ‘Diablo 4’, and other factors. In addition, NCSoft has been reinforcing its team since Hong Jihee was appointed as the new business leader for ‘Throne and Liberty’.
On April 19th, the development and business organizations of NCSoft’s ‘Throne and Liberty’ held a kickoff meeting with Amazon Games distribution business officials to launch the collaboration in earnest.
‘Throne and Liberty’ is a next-generation MMORPG developed for the PC platform, marking NCSoft’s first PC MMORPG release in 12 years since ‘Blade & Soul’. The game’s development began in 2013 as the successor to ‘Lineage Eternal’, and the project’s name was changed to ‘TL’, reflecting the strong connection to the ‘Lineage’ series.
Although ‘Lineage 3’ was considered as a potential name for the game, it was ultimately decided to be a new IP named ‘Throne and Liberty’, independent of the ‘Lineage’ IP. This decision was influenced by internal dynamics within NCSoft and market conditions.
Despite the delay in the release schedule, concerns have been raised about the potential for ‘Throne and Liberty’ to incorporate a “Lineage-like” monetization model. NCSoft’s public relations team stated that the specific schedule for ‘Throne and Liberty’ will be confirmed during the first quarter earnings announcement and that they are continuing to collaborate with Amazon Games for a global launch.