NC

Moon-young Choi   I always thank our players for their strong affection, continued support and high expectations of our games. This time, their reaction was different from what we originally expected. They said our new games “defied their expectations”. It seems that some of them, who are particularly agile, have already noticed that we are seeking for a new direction.

Moon-young Choi   In fact, it has been a long time since NC started to try something new. Now we finally gained an opportunity to show our efforts to achieve change and transformation by announcing the release of our new game titles for the first time to the public.

Last year, we focused on the development of mobile MMORPGs, but in 2022, we plan to try various genres which player can enjoy with different devices, actively pioneering the global market at the same time. In fact, the newly-announced games belong to different genres such as MMORPG, interactive movie, action battle royale, and collectible RPG, all of which will be globally available in multiple platforms such as console, PC, and mobile device.

Moon-young Choi   As mentioned earlier, NC has cultivated seeds of change for a long time but we had few opportunities to introduce them to the public. Following the videos released in February, we are going to unveil other videos of our new IPs one after another. For the IPs we have not unveiled yet, we plan to actively communicate with our customers through different channels from the planning and development stage and reflect their feedback.

Moon-young Choi   It is because of a very simple and legitimate reason. NC’s existence has been made possible by our customers and markets. In other words, it is our duty to make something that can satisfy the need of our customers. To that end, we are trying to look for ways to increase communication with them.

Moon-young Choi   In the same way < Throne and Liberty > and < Project E > were introduced by Producer Ahn Jong-ok of < Throne and Liberty > and those who developed the worldview, we are going to provide more opportunities for players to directly communicate with our developers. We hope that interesting content will be created in the process of unveiling the development process, entertaining our players in a way that we have not even thought of before.

Jong-ok Ahn   That's right. < Throne and Liberty >  stemmed from the Lineage to become "a next-generation Lineages a project started by Lineage."

Moon-young Choi   As far as I remember, it was in the spring three years ago when < Throne and Liberty > began to be materialized as a new IP. It was when we were re-creating the story of the Lineage. 

Jong-ok Ahn   In the < Throne and Liberty > project,  we went back to the square one and thought hard about what value next-generation PC and console-based MMO games should present. We put extra efforts into designing a highly immersive world where players can enjoy new experiences and have fun.

For example, we tried multiple things to avoid monotonous field play. Even in the same region, the geographical features change depending on the weather while the flow of battle changes according to the wind direction. Over time, players might encounter new mobs. The way and purpose of hunting keep changing accordingly. We worked hard to ensure that the three factors of field, environment and player affect one another. We expect that such an interactive influence will lead to richer possibilities for players.

Jong-ok Ahn   It might sound too idealistic but I believe that a game will be loved by players of all generations in every region as long as it is fun to enjoy. That is why we kept reviewing the games to find what we had missed and tried to make them better without targeting a specific region or group.

Jong-ok Ahn   We have two major pieces of content. First is a well-structured, robust and convincing worldview.

Good understanding of game characters is a prerequisite for players to enjoy the game. Only then, they can be fully immersed in the game with strong affection. To that end, the worldview of the game, which is home to the game characters, has to be solid and robust. So we paid a lot of attention to storytelling and utilized many tools and techniques that are common in console or adventure games.

Jong-ok Ahn   We concentrated on two points when designing different worlds of < Throne and Liberty > at each level. To begin with, we tried to connect every world seamlessly. And we sought to allow players to maximize the spatial use by allowing them to feel every space three-dimensionally.

To that end, it was required reduce teleportation and enable users to move from one space to another at a rapid speed regardless of height.

We thought animals are the answer. So we allowed players to transform into a land, water or flying animal. For successful exploration of some regions in the game, they have to utilize the animal’s ability to move. In addition, players can carry other players once they transform into an animal.

Jong-ok Ahn   In  < Throne and Liberty >, environmental factors such as time of the day and weather conditions including rain and wind keep changing. Although you might not be able to recognize this when you just start out the game, it has more implications than you think.

For example, the direction and strength of the wind affect the archery shooting range. If you practice lightning-type magic when it rains, it affects a wider range of enemies unlike the way it affects a single enemy in a sunny day. Terrain is influenced by environmental factors, as well. For example, you can infiltrate the castle in diverse routes in a siege warfare including the underground sewer and it could be filled with too much water and become unavailable if it rains heavily.

Conversely, players can affect the environment. They can change the environment in their favor by causing a solar eclipse or rainstorm if required conditions are met.

LIGHTBOX House   The worldview of   < Throne and Liberty >  was created by LIGHTBOX House. When a new IP is planned, LIGHTBOX House is asked to build a worldview through discussions with the development team based on its basic concept. Of course it would be great if we could deliver more stories. Unfortunately though, only a few of the tens or hundreds of projects are actually developed into an actual game. I just hope you to know that there is this team of LIGHTBOX House at NC and we strive to identify an interesting story and exchange ideas to create a more solid worldview and fun game.

LIGHTBOX House   The backgrounds of < Throne and Liberty >  and < Project E >  are two different continents on the same planet. < Throne and Liberty > is set in Solisium which looks like the Western medieval period while < Project E > is set in Laisak (TBD) which is a Eastern medieval period-themed continent.

LIGHTBOX House   Since < Throne and Liberty > and < Project E >  are based on the same planet, they will be in the same time zone. They will share not only the same gravitational and ecological characteristics but also the same origin of magical and fantastical elements. Still the characteristics of each civilization and history will not be the same because they are set in different continents. In addition, important events that take place on the planet are interpreted in a totally different way in the two games, making them more interesting and fun.

LIGHTBOX House   There were two major events. To begin with, there was an attempt to seal away the God, Silaves, into a magic stone named the Star of Silaves but to no avail during the War between the Old Gods. As a result, the powerful magic stone was broken into small pieces and scattered around the planet, triggering a war to secure the pieces. In , several pieces of Sillack, which is equal to the Star of Silaves in < Throne and Liberty >, fell on the continent, giving birth to four Sky Islands, a Mystery Lake and sacred beasts and trees, etc.

LIGHTBOX House   NC chose a project with the concept of orientalism as the second IP to share the same worldview with < Throne and Liberty >. We originally aimed to establish a worldview by focusing on the beauty and mysticism of the East. This is why its name is Project E and E here stands for the East.

Although the recently released video highlights Korean elements, we will ultimately create 16 countries to show different historical, ecological, and visual references of the East. This does not mean that we exclude Western elements. We strive to beautifully harmonize various cultures in the fantasy world of .

Jong-ok Ahn   We have put our best efforts to develop fresh and new MMO games. The videos we have recently released show the actual playing of the games. I would like to say that I am always ready to have a candid, open-minded communication with players and continue to develop a fresh game.

Moon-young Choi   Increasing communication with our players from the planning stage, I realized that that their needs are becoming more concrete and diversified. Considering that the gaming market evolves faster than any other markets, I think we need to actively collect and reflect their opinions in our games. We are now trying to come up with something new. I hope that you will continue to look forward to NC's projects including < Throne and Liberty > and < Project E > with strong support.