NCSoft's Aion 2, which has proven its popularity in the domestic market, is expanding onto the global stage. The launch is expected to be a test of whether NCSoft can deliver results in the global massively multiplayer online role-playing game market with intellectual property outside Lineage.

NCSoft will start early access for the global version of Aion 2 on Sept. 30 and begin full service on Oct. 5. The global version will be offered on PC only via Steam and NCSoft's own Purple platform, and will be released simultaneously in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Early access will be available to buyers of a Founder's Pack that includes participation rights.

Aion 2 is a sequel that inherits the MMORPG Aion, which was released in 2008. After launching first in South Korea and Taiwan on Nov. 19 last year, it became a major source of revenue for NCSoft.

On Jan. 3 this year, 46 days after launch, cumulative sales surpassed 100 billion won. The cumulative number of characters for which memberships were purchased also exceeded 1,000,000. In the first quarter, it recorded revenue of 136.8 billion won. Backed by the performance of Aion 2 and Lineage Classic, NCSoft's PC game revenue also hit a quarterly record high of 318.4 billion won at the time.

Aion 2 revenue in the second quarter was 71.9 billion won, down about 47 percent from the previous quarter. NCSoft described it as a process of revenue stabilising after launch. It said major indicators including concurrent users, monthly active users and revenue improved after a large-scale update in July.

With its scale of success confirmed in South Korea and Taiwan, the key now is whether it can broaden its user and revenue base to North America and Europe.

PC and Steam only: Global version strategy differs from the start

The global version will be offered on PC only and can be accessed via Steam and Purple. It supports 10 languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and simplified and traditional Chinese.

Unlike in South Korea and Taiwan, where it was offered on both PC and mobile, it will focus on PC globally. It expanded overseas user access by using Steam alongside its own Purple platform.

It also carried out server and infrastructure checks before launch. NCSoft conducted a "launch scale test" from Sept. 17 to 18 in an environment identical to the live service to confirm server and infrastructure stability.

It is also working with Microsoft. The two companies plan to use Microsoft Azure's global infrastructure to respond to large-scale concurrent access and region-by-region traffic fluctuations, and to cooperate from performance verification before launch through to incident response after the service begins.

With a separate global service environment built, the key now is actual market reaction. Through Steam, it can also check early indicators such as concurrent users and user ratings relatively directly.

Can it move beyond being a Lineage company: Why global results matter

Another reason the global launch of Aion 2 is drawing attention is that it aligns with the business structure change NCSoft has been pursuing.

NCSoft grew for a long time centred on the Lineage IP. Its influence is also large this year. In the second quarter, Lineage Classic posted revenue of 185.5 billion won, and cumulative revenue 140 days after launch reached 269.1 billion won. Lineage Remastered and Lineage M also grew from the previous quarter.

Aion 2, by contrast, showed the possibility of generating large revenue from MMORPGs other than Lineage. Following 136.8 billion won in the first quarter, it also posted revenue of 71.9 billion won in the second quarter.

Still, it is too early to say NCSoft's IP structure has changed based only on results in South Korea and Taiwan. In the second quarter, Lineage Classic led growth in PC game revenue, and the existing Lineage series also remains a core pillar of performance. For Aion 2 to establish itself as a long-term growth engine, it needs to sustain results in the global market as well.

NCSoft's overseas revenue share in the second quarter this year was 52 percent, exceeding the domestic revenue share. By region, South Korea accounted for 48 percent, Asia 25 percent, and North America and Europe and others 27 percent, while the overseas revenue share rose for a fourth consecutive quarter.

The securities industry is also viewing the global launch of Aion 2 as an inflection point for gauging the direction of NCSoft's overseas business.

Jeong Ho-yoon (정호윤), an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities, wrote in a recent report that as NCSoft has not had clear results in global markets outside South Korea and Asia so far, if it succeeds it could be an event that increases valuation along with contributions to earnings.

Jeong analysed that as NCSoft is preparing global MMORPG launches such as Horizon Steel Frontiers and Guild Wars 3, expectations for follow-up titles could also rise if Aion 2 settles into the market.

Ultimately, this global launch does not stop at adding service regions and revenue for Aion 2. It is a stage for checking whether non-Lineage IP proven in South Korea and Taiwan can secure a user base in North America and Europe, and whether NCSoft can broaden its Lineage-centred business structure to one centred on its own global IP.

An industry official said, "Aion 2 has already delivered results in South Korea, so globally it is important not so much how many users it attracts early on, but how long it can maintain its user base in North America and Europe," adding, "Aion 2's performance could become a benchmark for gauging NCSoft's future global MMORPG strategy."