[Digital Today reporter Ho-jung Lee (이호정)] NCSoft's 'Lineage Classic', released on Feb. 7, climbed to fourth in PC bang share after two days of free service, marking an early box-office success.

According to PC bang statistics site GameTrics on Sunday, Lineage Classic posted a 6.25 percent PC bang share as of the previous day. That is higher than 'FC Online', 'Overwatch' and 'MapleStory', as well as 'Aion2', which NCSoft released in November last year.

Lineage Classic recreates the early-2000s version of the PC online game 'Lineage', which NCSoft has operated since 1998. It features 4 classes including prince, knight, elf and wizard, early content such as Talking Island, Dragon Valley and Giran, and an interface familiar to existing users.

A large number of so-called "Linjeossi" gamers who played Lineage in the past flocked to the game, and it was reported that access was unstable due to server congestion during weekend peak times. PC bang users surged as a perception spread that logging in from PC bangs offers exclusive benefits and faster connection speeds.

NCSoft is providing PC bang users with the "Suspicious Aura" buff that grants additional defense, a "PC bang-only dungeon" and "Pixie's Feather", which can be exchanged for consumables depending on play time. These premium benefits are seen as having affected the rise in PC bang share.

NCSoft is reviewing the introduction of an auto-play system after analyzing play data following the free opening and deciding that fatigue is high during the leveling phase due to manual play. In a notice on Saturday, the development team said it would improve the game by increasing the number of monsters, revising PK disposition rules and raising the amount of adena dropped by monsters.

Lineage Classic will be offered for free through Feb. 10, and players can play by purchasing a monthly subscription from Feb. 11. NCSoft removed the paid season pass that had been planned and adopted only the monthly subscription model.