Netmarble's open-world action RPG 'Game of Thrones: Kingsroad' is set for a PC early release on May 14, followed by a mobile grand launch on May 21.

After about a year of reflecting user feedback since the western early access launch in May last year, it redesigned the business model, combat system and multiplayer content from the ground up. It is an Asia version that rewrites core systems rather than simple localisation. The company spoke with Jang Hyun-il (장현일), a PD at Netmarble Neo, and Moon Jun-gi (문준기), head of business at Netmarble, about development direction and launch strategy.

◆"Westeros the drama could not show"... Designing a balance with the original

'Game of Thrones: Kingsroad' is an open-world action RPG set in the latter half of season 4 of HBO's Emmy and Golden Globe-winning drama series 'Game of Thrones'. Netmarble is developing the game after securing an official licence from HBO and Warner Bros. Games, and the companies jointly review it from the concept stage to the final deliverable through weekly regular video meetings.

Jang explained the choice of season 4 by saying it is "the period when all conflicts and threats begin to surface at once, when the most dramatic tension of the entire drama is concentrated."

The player character is set as the heir to the fallen minor noble House Tyre in the North, rather than one of the major houses.

Jang said that setting the player as an heir to a major house could create clashes with the original narrative, but a minor-house setting allows the player to avoid leaning toward any one faction and to naturally form relationships and make choices with various houses.

It builds a player-centred narrative within the world rather than simply reproducing the original. The original story was produced in collaboration with an overseas story writer recommended by the intellectual property holder, and the launch version has more than 30 hours of story prepared.

◆"Full redesign based on feedback"... Overhauling three pillars: BM, combat and multiplayer

Jang cited three major tasks identified through western early access: reactions to paid gacha; monotonous combat patterns and a lack of open-world content; and forced grinding during main-quest progression. He said it was improved at the level of reworking core design rather than fine-tuning. The scale of the overhaul shows why the Asia version is fundamentally different from the western version.

The biggest change is the business model. It removed paid gacha entirely and introduced a marketplace system. It reshaped revenue around monthly subscriptions, battle passes, cosmetic items and some packages, and also scrapped charging for convenience functions such as teleportation. Moon explained that the structure allows players to obtain gear through play without spending, and that it is designed so the economy circulates around player-to-player trading.

The combat system was also revised. The two-weapon system in the western version, with 1 melee and 1 ranged weapon, was expanded to 3 types, with 2 melee and 1 ranged weapon. Jang said it was introduced after confirming in western service that combat patterns become monotonous with a single weapon, and added that strategy was increased by applying independent skill sets when switching weapons and additional gauge-based buffs.

Multiplayer content was significantly expanded to include the four-player party dungeon "Altar of Memory", the four-player boss raid "Altar of the Abyss", a 12-player field boss, the two-player co-op dungeon "Elite Hideout", and a raid defence mode. Raid content requires role-based mechanics such as operating ballistae, with cooperative play working as a core element. Updates aim for about six-week intervals after launch, and the first update is set to expand the new Stormlands region and add main quests.

Positive responses in the closed beta test exceeded 80%, and 95% of survey respondents said they intended to play the full release. At a user demonstration event, praise focused on combat impact and the business-model overhaul, but UI and UX feedback, including camera perspective and the visibility of objects in the Kraken raid, was also received and is being incorporated.

◆Going against the idle trend... Why it insisted on manual action and designed for long-term service

As South Korea's mobile game market is being reshaped around idle growth genres, 'Game of Thrones: Kingsroad' stuck with 100% manual action. Jang said fully manual combat is essential to bring the battles of the 'Game of Thrones' IP to life, and said auto-hunting makes the feel of control, impact and strategic combat meaningless.

Both combat design and UI configuration were developed based on a keyboard-and-mouse environment. It provides a "combat assist mode" for mobile users, but kept core actions such as combos, skills, dodging and parrying as direct inputs. There are three classes: Knight (two-handed greatsword, dual swords), Mercenary (two-handed axe, gauntlet) and Assassin (dual daggers, rapier). A single character is structured to perform melee, ranged, stealth and suppression actions.

On long-term service design, Moon said the key to turning a drama-based IP into a long-running service game is live content that can steadily expand the original world and the part where the player's story is embedded into the world. He said the structure in which players enjoy cooperative content in the game and form a community is the core of long-term service.

The company plans to carry out Asia launch marketing more actively than at the time of the western release. Moon said it is preparing marketing for the Asia launch in earnest, as experience gained in the West has given it confidence in the game's completeness. It supports 7 Asian languages, including Korean, Traditional Chinese, Japanese and Southeast Asian languages, and aims for balanced performance across the region.

The western version will receive a large update reflecting the improvements within the third quarter after the Asia launch, and the two versions will be run on separate servers.