The global early access launch of NC's MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) "Aion 2" has reached No. 1 on the global charts. As the title is being released with a focus on Western markets, including North America, it is expected to have a positive impact on NC's second-half performance.
According to NC on the 1st, Aion 2 Global topped Steam's most popular games and revenue rankings globally on the previous day (the 30th). It recorded No. 1 in sales rankings in 12 countries, including the United States, France, Germany, Spain, and Brazil. The number of pre-release Steam wishlist registrations surpassed 1.3 million.
NC plans to fully expand its entry into Western markets with Aion 2 Global. After successfully launching Aion 2 in South Korea and Taiwan last November, the company has continued localization and optimization work for the Western release. NC stated that it prepared thoroughly, noting that the MMORPG gameplay preferred by North American and European gamers differs from that preferred by Korean and Taiwanese gamers.
Prior to the global launch of Aion 2, NC focused on broadening its connection with local users. At major game shows such as SGF (Summer Game Fest) in the United States in May and Gamescom in Germany in August, leaders including development producers directly introduced the game to global gamers and released documentary videos revealing the development process.
In September, NC conducted an LST (Launch Scale Test) for the North American region, checking server and infrastructure stability in a real service environment and gathering user feedback to improve content. To reflect the diversity and inclusivity of Western gamers, it expanded customization options to allow characters to be created within a broader range of choices. It also supported a total of eight languages, including English, French, and German, to enhance localization quality.
NC also strengthened its local publishing capabilities. Earlier this year, NC hired Marvin Lee Kwai as the head of North American publishing for the Aion 2 Global launch. He is an expert who has been in charge of global MMORPG publishing for 23 years. At NC, he is responsible for introducing Aion 2 to North American and European gamers.
NC, which had faced deteriorating internal and external conditions—once experiencing a slump in new titles severe enough to undergo restructuring—succeeded in turning the atmosphere around by consecutively achieving hits with Aion 2 last year and Lineage Classic this year. The company plans to break away from its image solidified by the Lineage franchise and simultaneously pursue IP diversification and global expansion, leveraging Aion 2 Global and another new title, "Astra Oratio," aimed at Asian markets such as Japan.
Meanwhile, unlike "TL Global," which targeted Western markets for the first time in 2024 and was published by Amazon Games, NC will directly handle publishing for Aion 2 Global. To support global services, NC strengthened its cooperation with MS (Microsoft) last month. Given the nature of a simultaneous global launch, the company plans to actively utilize Azure's global infrastructure built worldwide to stably respond to anticipated large-scale concurrent connections and regional traffic fluctuations.
A gaming industry official said, "In the case of Aion, the IP itself is a series that was already popular globally, so expectations for its success will be even higher." The official added, "The fact that there have been no notable AAA-grade MMORPGs released in Western markets recently will also work positively for NC."
in TECH
