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Anime inspired action MMO KurtzPel launched a Steam store page today. Developed by Korean studio KOG, the same company behind Elsword and Grand Chase, KurtzPel promises fast paced gameplay in both PvP and PvE missions. As with previous KOG titles, Kurtzpel will make heavy use of instancing and stage based missions. While the Steam page is currently sparse on details, we do know the game is scheduled for an Early Access release in the first quarter of 2019 which means we should be able to play it within the next 3 months. Prospective players looking for more details can check out the game's official YouTube page which contains dozens of videos showing off the game's combat, cinematic, and other details. Further Reading: Steam Page, YouTube Channel, Official Site FacebookTwitterReddit Related … [Read more...] about KurtzPel Steam Page Now Live, Early Access Scheduled For Q1 2019

Its been a good run. Rush On Seven Episodes aka ROSE Online, will be shutting down on February 11, 2019. WarpPortal, the Gravity owned publisher that hosts the game, made the announcement today via the Rose Online Facebook page. The in-game item mall is already closed, and players who still have points in-game will be able to transfer them to other WarpPortal PC MMORPGs including Ragnarok Online, Ragnarok Online 2, Record of Lodoss War Online, Dragon Saga, or Requiem. Premium currency transfer requests will be accepted until March 1, 2019 so get it done before those points expire. Effected players can use this link to file a support ticket to initiate the transfer. Rose Online has been struggling for years, the game never got around to releasing all 7 'episodes', as the game's planets were called. As one of the first Korean MMORPGs to make it to the West, way back in 2005, many of today's MMO gamers still have fond memories of the 3D anime-inspired title. There are still several … [Read more...] about ROSE Online Is Shutting Down On Feb 11, 2019

As gaming has gone from a niche activity to a mainstream past time, developers have come up with all sorts of ways to entice players to either keep playing, or to at least make daily play a habit. MMORPGs were some of the first to play with such mechanics. World of Warcraft's rested experience, and later daily quest feature were meant to reward players who played at least a little every day. Ultima Online's 'Power Hour' with increased skill gain for the first hour of player each day is an even older example. But it was mobile and browser games that gave the basic blue print of login rewards and daily chores that has now swept across the entire gaming industry. Even non-RPGs like Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm have daily missions to entice an hour or two of gameplay each day. This basic system seems to work well enough for such games, games with set matches or specific tasks to complete. But how can MMORPGs go beyond such check-list mechanics to truly keep players involved for … [Read more...] about The Weekly Raid: How Can MMOs Keep Players Online Longer?

Kim Jung-ju, the founder South Korea's largest gaming company, is putting his entire 98.64% stake in holding company NXC Corp for sale. NXC Corp itself controls 47.98% of Nexon and ~80% of Korbit and Bitstamp, two cryptocurrency exchanges. The stake is currently valued at ~$10 billion which would make it biggest ever Korean sale of this nature. Kim Jung-ju founded Nexon in 1994 and the company's first MMORPG Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds was released in 1996. Nexon has since grown into both a developer and publisher of PC and mobile title around the world. The company's most successful franchises are MapleStory (2003), and Dungeon Fighter Online (2005), both of which are still highly profitable. Investment banks Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley are orchestrating the deal, and will invite prospective buyers to start making bids early next month. Due to the size of the sale, the list of potential buyers is expected to be short. Chinese gaming giant Tencent is the most likely bidder … [Read more...] about Nexon Founder Looking To Sell $10 Billion Controlling Stake

In another signal that mobile gaming is taking over the world, Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire, a mobile strategy game, surpassed revenues from retail sales of Final Fantasy XV, the very game the mobile spinoff is based on. According to data from mobile analytics firm Sensortower, as of December 3, 2018, A New Empire has generated "over $485 million" in revenue and has averaged $1 million a day in revenues in the month of November, 2018. Extrapolating this data to the present, the game has earned in excess of $510 million globally. In comparison, Final Fantasy XV across all platforms has sold 8.4 million copies worldwide according to a post on the game's official website celebrating its second anniversary. If we generously assume every copy was sold at $60, this obviously isn't the case as the game is available at Amazon and Gamestop for under $20 new, total sales tally up to $504 million. Realistically, this gap is much wider as Final Fantasy XV went on sale for $40 a mere 2 months … [Read more...] about Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire (Mobile Strategy Game) Revenue Surpassed Flagship Final Fantasy XV Sales