Yet this arrangement still bred confusion about what NC America is and what is going on with NCSOFT West. The most important thing to know, however, is that moving forward, NC America is handling the publishing for the Korean developer here in the West, with Blade and Soul NEO Classic Divine Gems the exception of ArenaNet’s portfolio.

Late last year, NCSoft announced it was investing in two studios outside their normal MMO wheelhouse, a third-person time-survival shooter made by Korean studio Mistil Games called Time Takers, and Band of Crusaders, a strategy RPG set during the European Middle Ages made by Polish developer Virtual Academy. These partnerships show that NC America, and NCSOFT by extension, aren’t simply content to rest on the laurels of their previously established brands, but instead are willing to invest in new ideas and studios that have the potential to break through, especially in the Western market. JJ says that there could be even more on the horizon as the months and year goes by.

“We are trying to bring more titles from NCSOFT, and one of the goals is also a diversified portfolio. And that’s the same with the headquarters because we’re so well known for the MMORPG genre, I think that was a little like a double-edged sword for us.” However, while diversifying the portfolio here is a good thing, it’s not going to stop NCSOFT and NC America from doubling down on what it does great: MMOs. As such, this year we’ll see the release of a remastered version of Blade and Soul, called Blade and Soul Neo. Launched in Korea a few months back, the remaster has seen quite a bit of adoption since its release, according to JJ, and part of announcing this release was to start to bring something to the West that they could do rather quickly.

Blade and Soul Neo was actually launched a couple of months ago in Korea first. And actually, the Blade and Soul Neo fans in Korea are loving it, and we also play cheap BnS Classic Divine Gems here at NC America. We also love it. So we wanted to work as fast as we can to bring the title to our audience as well.