Kim Taek-jin, NCSOFT's CEO and chief creative officer (CCO), said the company will not focus only on its strength in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) but will present competitive games with a distinct NCSOFT identity across various genres, including shooting, action, and subculture.
Kim spoke at the opening session of G-STAR 2025, the country's largest game show that kicked off on the 13th at the Busan Exhibition & Convention Center (BEXCO), saying, "We want to shine the essence of MMORPGs from a new angle and make games in various genres that have our own colors." It was Kim's first in-person attendance at G-STAR in two years since 2023.
That day, NCSOFT unveiled five new titles. As Kim mentioned each entry, he said, "Cinder City and Time Takers will offer a new shooting experience, Limit Zero Breakers will deliver a sense of fantasy, and Aion 2 will present a world that is familiar yet better colored."
This year, NCSOFT served as the main sponsor of G-STAR for the first time since its founding and prepared an extra-large exhibition space with 300 booths. At this G-STAR, NCSOFT publicly unveiled for the first time Aion 2, a new MMORPG set for official release on the 19th. It also showcased four other new titles: the open-world shooting game Cinder City being developed by subsidiary Bigfire Games, Mistyl Games' Time Takers, and Big Game Studio's Limit Zero Breakers.
That day, NCSOFT also unveiled for the first time Horizon Steel Frontiers, a new MMORPG in development based on Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE)'s hit Horizon IP. Unlike the original, which focused on single-player, it centers on teamwork and tactical combat and is playable on mobile. Kim said, "It felt regrettable that Horizon's uniquely compelling universe had to be ventured alone, and that led us to create an MMORPG based on it."
Horizon Steel Frontiers is the game that Park Byung-mu, NCSOFT's co-CEO, said he "gave a standing ovation after the demo" during the third-quarter conference call. NCSOFT and SIE subsidiary Guerrilla Games are co-developing it, and it could launch as early as next year.
Kim emphasized that today's game industry is undergoing fundamental change due to the rapid adoption of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). He said, "In the past, a few blockbusters sometimes led the market, and players consumed games following that trend, but now it's different," adding, "Players no longer use content passively."
He added, "They move across playing, viewing, sharing, and creating, turning their experiences into new content."
He continued, "So we ask ourselves: by the time the games we make come out into the world, how will the world have changed? In the cultural shifts driven by new technologies and new generations, can our games be chosen?"
On why the company joined G-STAR 2025 as a main sponsor, Kim said, "It signifies NCSOFT's commitment to carry forward greater responsibility and effort for the advancement of Korea's game industry," adding, "G-STAR is not just a place to show our present; I believe it is a stage to open together the first scene of the coming future."
Regarding the values NCSOFT pursues amid changes in the game industry, he said, "NCSOFT likes to make games where countless people are intertwined and find joy within," adding, "Since our founding in 1997, we have made games with stories that people laugh at together, grow with, and remember. That is the color of the games NCSOFT has shaped and will continue to shape."
NCSOFT, which posted its second loss since its founding last year, is going all out on promotion with the aim of making Aion 2 a hit. Aion 2 is a highly anticipated title that NCSOFT has developed over seven years with a team of more than 300 people, and a sequel to Aion, the previous title that ranked No. 1 for 160 consecutive weeks in the nationwide PC café popular game rankings in 2017.
Leading with Aion 2, NCSOFT plans to unveil a slew of new titles next year in a bid to stage a turnaround in results. NCSOFT's revenue, which was 2.5718 trillion won in 2022, fell to 1.5781 trillion won last year. Last year it swung to an operating loss of 109.2 billion won.
As Park Byung-mu, NCSOFT's co-CEO, set a minimum 2026 revenue target of 2 trillion won at this year's first-quarter earnings announcement, the success of new titles including Aion 2 is expected to determine NCSOFT's performance trajectory.