NCsoft Increases Worldwide Revenues

[bean19]

Gamespot reports that NCsoft has increased their revenues (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/guildwars/news.html?sid=6144241) from the last fiscal year while simultaneously seeing a lower profit. This lowered profit is most probably due to the costs of developing new products.

Interestingly, the increased revenue has been seen from NCsoft's expansion into new markets outside Korea, where their Lineage games are as prominent as World of Warcraft is here.

Contributing to growth of top-line revenues were overseas sales: the company saw a 37 percent increase in sales from the North American market and 22 percent increase from the European market.

Looking ahead, the company is targeting revenue growth in the current fiscal year of another 17 percent, with a product mix (based on percentage of revenues contributed) estimated over the year as follows: Lineage, 27 percent; Lineage 2, 29 percent; Guild Wars, 13 percent; City of Heroes/City of Villains, 10 percent; new games, 14 percent; and royalties, 7 percent.
It strikes me as odd that the Lineage games account for more than 56% of NCSoft's revenue while CoH/CoV accounts for only 10%. I would think that they'd expect more revenue from CoH/CoV now that it is being launched in Korea. The real issue though is that CoH/CoV is seen as one of the best MMOs out ever in the U.S. by many, while Lineage II is pretty much hated by everyone as a boring grind fest. How very different our cultures are from one another, and how do you create games that appeal equally to both cultures?

[Royal Fool]

Lineage 2 only barely manages to outperform the original game, that's absolutely amazing considering how old Lineage is.

The real issue though is that CoH/CoV is seen as one of the best MMOs out ever in the U.S. by many, while Lineage II is pretty much hated by everyone as a boring grind fest.

Apparently it's the other way around in South Korea. They have tons of commercial MMO games (The country has around 50 online game operation companies) and many of them follow the usual grind formula. I think the issue has a lot to do with game availability and "genre standards" rather than gamer's tastes.

World of Warcraft has attained super-stardom in Europe and the U.S. and it rolls over the competition. We're seeing new MMO games appear, but none of them can topple the WoW beast. I'm sure it's pretty much the same in South Korea and Asia with their respective "mammoth" games that dominate the genre.

[bean19]

Royal Fool - Yeah, brand loyalty to games that people have loved is a big deal. . . but WoW is GOOD. Lineage II is shit.

So, while I agree that momentum plays a role in this, there is still definitely a difference in gaming tastes between cultures too.

[Expugnare]

Well Guild Wars is extremely popular in North America, Korea, and Europe. Also it just launched in China after a beta of 500,000 people, half of the current players. Also Lineage is popular because the Koreans will work for their charcters even if it means grinding for hours. And as also stated above, there are many MMO's there and Lineage 2 is one of the better ones.

[Ronberk]

Basically what Americans forget is that weirdo meta-humans dressing up in spandex and masks to fight petty criminals is a very unique aspect of American culture which pretty much limits the possible appeal of CoH/CoV to many gamers around the world.

Anyway I don't understand why you guys love CoH/CoV so much, even going by US subscriptions it is nowhere near close to beating WoW or EQ. CoV doesn't even deserve a nomination for PC Game of the Year really ...

[Rakael]

To everyone who claims WoW is good and Lineage 2 sucks:

Yup, your right about Lineage, that fucking game sucks off dirty ape cock. On the other hand, in my opinion, so does WoW. Flame me all you want, but that game bored me to tears. WoW might as well be a rail-shooter in my opinion*. So, maybe the Koreans see it the same way, but because they were "raised" on Lineage, still love the game despite its flaws. If WoW wasn't set in the Warcraft universe, the game wouldn't be nearly as popular as it is. Sure, because its an MMO done very well it would still have a huge user base, but wouldn't be even close to the behemoth it is now.

*= Please remember WoW fanboys, this is just my opinion. Just because I don't like your game does not mean its a bad game or that your life is meaningless for playing it.

[Doctor Setebos]

Anyway I don't understand why you guys love CoH/CoV so much, even going by US subscriptions it is nowhere near close to beating WoW or EQ. CoV doesn't even deserve a nomination for PC Game of the Year really ...Personally, I love CoH and CoV because there are no superhero MMOs out there, and that makes it different. I've played fantasy-styled games to death, and I'm looking for a new experience. Besides, I watched a friend of mine who has a level 60 mage in WoW play for a couple hours, and I was simply unimpressed with the game. I'd rather pick up CoH, form a quick team, and rip through some bad guys in a slick mission than harvest skins from dead animals for three hours to trade for some special armor. :D

[drakkarim]

i don't think you CAN create games that have mass appeal in so many cultures. different views, different opinions, different values.

but leave it to ignorant marketing people to think they can sell the same shit to everyone in the world.

[bean19]

i don't think you CAN create games that have mass appeal in so many cultures. different views, different opinions, different values.

but leave it to ignorant marketing people to think they can sell the same shit to everyone in the world.

What if someone made an RF Online that wasn't "grindy", had lots of missions, and good "single player" elements like quality voice-acting and/or cut scenes to tell more dramatic or integral portions of the story?

It seems like we Americans enjoy the artistic style of Asian games, but that we despise the grind and the lack of content.

Could that not, theoretically, be a happy medium between the two?

[Sloth]

CoH is a pretty big grind to. At least when i played. There wasn't a whole lot of end game either. It was even more shallow than WoW.

[bean19]

CoH is a pretty big grind to. At least when i played. There wasn't a whole lot of end game either. It was even more shallow than WoW.

You're completely right on both points. I'd have made the comparison to WoW but this doesn't track WoW's stats. . . If it did, it would probably have marginalized all of the other stats since they are such a behemoth.

Still, the grind in CoH is NOTHING compared to the Lineage II grind, and the gameplay is far more deep.

Lineage II does have an endgame though. . . especially since CoV's supergroup base raids and items of power are still in the works.

That's a good point. I bet one of the reasons is that Lineage II has a PvP endgame that "justifies" the grind to some Korean players, whereas CoH/CoV doesn't justify the grind for U.S. or Korean players with it's weakass PvP zones.

[Karmakin]

I'm surprised that Guild Wars brought in more income than CoH/CoV, to be honest. Considering that all the GW income was in sales of the boxed game, as compared to membership fees for CoH/CoV plus sales of CoV. GW probably will really bring home the bacon this year, with two new chapters being released to retailers.

[Steele Johnson]

How very different our cultures are from one another, and how do you create games that appeal equally to both cultures?

Add a checkbox in the Options section that says "Grind Mode Off".

[Lexicon]

I'm surprised that Guild Wars brought in more income than CoH/CoV, to be honest. Considering that all the GW income was in sales of the boxed game, as compared to membership fees for CoH/CoV plus sales of CoV. GW probably will really bring home the bacon this year, with two new chapters being released to retailers.

The percentage revenue numbers are estimated for this coming year.

Looking ahead, the company is targeting revenue growth in the current fiscal year of another 17 percent, with a product mix (based on percentage of revenues contributed) ESTIMATED OVER THE YEAR as follows: Lineage, 27 percent; Lineage 2, 29 percent; Guild Wars, 13 percent; City of Heroes/City of Villains, 10 percent; new games, 14 percent; and royalties, 7 percent.

Not targeting you specifically for misreading seems a lot of people skipped over that part.

[Returner]

Gamespot reports that NCsoft has increased their revenues (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/guildwars/news.html?sid=6144241) from the last fiscal year while simultaneously seeing a lower profit. This lowered profit is most probably due to the costs of developing new products.

Interestingly, the increased revenue has been seen from NCsoft's expansion into new markets outside Korea, where their Lineage games are as prominent as World of Warcraft is here.


It strikes me as odd that the Lineage games account for more than 56% of NCSoft's revenue while CoH/CoV accounts for only 10%. I would think that they'd expect more revenue from CoH/CoV now that it is being launched in Korea. The real issue though is that CoH/CoV is seen as one of the best MMOs out ever in the U.S. by many, while Lineage II is pretty much hated by everyone as a boring grind fest. How very different our cultures are from one another, and how do you create games that appeal equally to both cultures?


The grind doesn't appeal to anybody it’s the end game that has them hooked. It's just too bad that it takes a life time to get there. The thing that really sucks is in Korea they have a non-PvP server with a 30% increase in exp and a 50% increase in item drops. They have no plans at this time to add these servers to US but I’m hoping they will.

[Heretic Machine]

Anyway I don't understand why you guys love CoH/CoV so much

I loved it for it's first couple of months. Then the dev team decided that they wanted to make it not fun... so over the course of three or four patches, they did.

[bean19]

I loved it for it's first couple of months. Then the dev team decided that they wanted to make it not fun... so over the course of three or four patches, they did.

This could honestly be why the projections for CoH/CoV are so low. I'm quite certain that ED made them take a hit. . . not only in their current subscriber base, but from people that told their friends to stay away from it.

I know two different large multi-gaming groups personally who took this game off their roster despite being excited (at the time) about PvP due to the increased grind that came with the addition of ED.

Also, it's not going away according to the devs.

[Crabby]

What if someone made an RF Online that wasn't "grindy", had lots of missions, and good "single player" elements like quality voice-acting and/or cut scenes to tell more dramatic or integral portions of the story?

It seems like we Americans enjoy the artistic style of Asian games, but that we despise the grind and the lack of content.

Could that not, theoretically, be a happy medium between the two?


Yes, but also the productions values in general are tolerated at a far lower level in the East. You could study this as far back as Ultime Online compared to Lineage. Even when an American gamer was spitting at the aesthetics of UO, Lineage was working it's thang in a condition far worse. Not even mentioning the other factors that differ. Which is an entirely other issue. Unless you're interested in hearing about it, the general person is better off getting a "Yeah, they sure as heck are different."

West and East, as far as the MMO genres are concerned, thrive on two entirely different gaming philosophies. These basic philosophies completely drive and model MMOs for the two different cultures at every level of development and play. An easy example of this comes in the form of the socialization that occurs around these games for Asian cultures. If they can get by with the lowest common denominator, if it can suit their needs, the game itself is far less important than what they are doing around the game. You could say that the game is a facilitator to something far more important that might be going on in the mental space of the players. In sharp contrast, Western gamers are bred and trained to observe the game for critique along with playing it. We're present outside the game. It's culture, brawh.