NCsoft's Aion2 among games like Chrono Studio's Chrono Odyssey to pack a punch this year

NCsoft's upcoming game Aion2 will be released by the end of 2025. [NCSOFT]

 
The first half of this year had Korean game publishers going outside their comfort zones to release games in new genres such as soulslike and life simulation in an effort to diversify their portfolios and attract new audiences to the scene.
 
Nexon’s The First Berserker: Khazan saw the company venture to create a full-priced, single-player, hardcore action game, something it rarely went for, while Netmarble dropped Game of Thrones: Kingsroad, based on the hit HBO drama series, while Krafton began the early access of its life simulation game inZOI.
 

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The recent trend shows the urge of Korean game publishers to find new gamers globally, after being skewed to a free-to-play online multiplayer model popular only in East Asia for the last decade.
 
With NCsoft expected to make a return in releasing big-name titles with Aion2, other notable game publishers are also gearing up with the release of exciting game titles.
 

NCsoft's upcoming game Aion2 will be released by the end of 2025. [NCSOFT]

 
Aion2, the long-awaited sequel to its massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Aion, is not just being anticipated by the fans of the franchise, but for other gamers — and investors of NCsoft — as it marks the first large-scale MMORPG released by the company since Throne and Liberty in late 2023.
 
Despite NCsoft being the pioneer in the MMORPG genre with its still ongoing 1998 entry Lineage, the publisher struggled to capture new audiences in recent years as a result of heavy microtransactions and game features like "autobattle," which encourages users to play idle-game style with high repetitiveness.
 
Aion2, however, vows to make things different as the developers said there will be no automatic battle features to give the users more purpose and fun in gaming. It is also expected to have a game map 36 times larger than Aion, featuring more diverse character customization features.
 
The game, coming to PC, the Apple Appstore, the Google Play store and PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S and X consoles, will be launched in Korea and Taiwan in November, followed by a European and North American release in 2026.
 

Screenshots from Kakao Games' upcoming title Chrono Odyssey [KAKAO GAMES]

 
Chrono Odyssey is also a game in the MMORPG genre, but perhaps different from many others. The game, developed by Chrono Studio and published by Kakao Games in Korea, is expected to be released not as a free-to-play game but as a full-priced package game. The game also does not revolve around recurring microtransactions to make the player stronger. In an interview with YouTuber Kanon, the executive producer of the game, Yoon Sung-tae, said the game will “never be pay-to-win,” and that the business model of the game is focused on cosmetic changes.
 
The game will have an open world environment and a unique Chronotector feature that allows players to stop and rewind time for creative gameplay. The MMORPG, which recently ended its closed beta test, is expected to be released in the fourth quarter of this year on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S and X.
 

Gameplay screenshots from Pearl Abyss' Crimson Desert [PEARL ABYSS]

 
Pearl Abyss’ Crimson Desert is a highly anticipated open-world action-adventure game. First introduced in 2019, the game had many twists and turns during its development phase: It was first announced as an MMORPG title, prequel to Black Desert, then was moved to have its own unique storyline, alongside the change in genre.
 
The released trailers over the years raised the expectations of many gamers with mesmerizing graphics, but the delayed release date — which is now expected to be in the fourth quarter of this year — will have a high bar to meet. The game, which will only feature single-player content at launch, will be a full-priced game for the PC, Mac, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S and X.
 
There are other big-name titles on the horizon, too. ARC Raiders, a multiplayer extraction adventure game developed by Embark Studios, a subsidiary of Nexon, is a third-person game expected to release with a $40 price tag on Oct. 30. In the game, players are raiders trying to survive in an apocalyptic world.
 

A promotional image for ARC Raiders, a multiplayer extraction adventure game developed by Embark Studios, a subsidiary of Nexon [NEXON]

 
Netmarble will release The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin in August, an open-world action RPG game based on the Japanese manga “The Seven Deadly Sins” (2012-2020). The Midnight Walkers, a hardcore first-person zombie shooter developed by Oneway Ticket Studio, a subsidiary of Wemade Max.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]