Com2uS chose an approach for its new massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) "Zeus: God of Arrogance" that broadens the range of participation in competition while limiting player gaps and system abuse. It introduced indirect competition to widen participation. It also built safeguards into an artificial intelligence (AI) mode and the economy system to prevent gaps and abuse.

Com2uS held a showcase on Thursday at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square in Seoul and unveiled major content and its operating direction. "Zeus: God of Arrogance," developed by Aiberton and published by Com2uS, is set for an official launch at 12 p.m. on Aug. 26. Character name reservations begin at 8 p.m. on Aug. 13.

The game uses Unreal Engine 5 to depict a Greek mythological world fractured by Zeus' absolute power and arrogance. The central character, Pandora, was created by facial scanning and voice recording of actor Park Ji-hyun.

At launch, the game offers four first-tier classes and expands to a total of eight through job advancement. Each class is tied to a main deity from Greek mythology, including Apollo, Artemis, Athena and Hephaestus. Among them, "Artisan" is an economy-focused class.

TOP-TIER CONCENTRATION CURB... COMPETITION DIVIDED BY GROWTH LEVEL

"Zeus: God of Arrogance" puts its strongest emphasis on "competition everyone can enjoy." The developers said they saw a problem in existing MMORPGs where content and rewards concentrate on top-tier users, leaving mid- and lower-tier users with nothing to enjoy after they progress.

Jung Sung-hoon (정성훈), a director at Aiberton, said, "If content is repeatedly provided centered on top-tier users, mid- and lower-tier users are left with nothing to enjoy besides farming," adding, "The meaning of 'competition for everyone' is to provide content the entire user base can enjoy."

To do that, the game uses a system that intervenes so users with similar growth levels compete against each other. The season-based content that ties this together is called "Odysseia," and its core is the "Persona" system, in which AI controls a duplicate of a user's stats and appearance. Representative content includes "Colosseum," where players fight Personas one-on-one, and the "Arcadia Festival," which pits guilds against each other in multi-versus-multi battles.

The Persona does not learn and reproduce actual user behavior. Kim Tae-woo (김태우), creative director at Aiberton, said, "We provided efficient skill mechanisms by class and basic situation-appropriate actions," and added, "We judged that if we train it on real actions, it could reflect incorrect behavior as well."

The game is not limited to indirect competition. Field boss battles are free competition, while inter-server battlefields and occupation battles, fortress battles and siege battles are direct competition content. Kim said it grants the right to collect taxes in siege battles but expanded endgame content through fortress battles so benefits do not concentrate only on some top factions.

"NO GROWTH GAP FROM AI MODE USAGE TIME"... MULTI-ACCOUNT GAINS ALSO LIMITED

The game also introduces an "AI mode" to reduce fatigue from long logins and repetitive hunting. Hunting continues even after the client is closed, and users can set options such as status checks, shops, trading and automatic skill use. It provides 12 hours per day by default, and extends it to 24 hours with a 9,900 won monthly membership.

On concerns about widening growth gaps, Kim said, "Even 12-hour users can use auto-hunting in the remaining time with the client left on, so it is designed so there is no difference in 24-hour growth." Materials obtained are not automatically used for growth. Users are notified of item acquisition and similar events so they log in directly to progress.

It also restricted abuse using multiple characters. Only one character per account can use AI mode, and materials exclusive to Artisan can be obtained only through direct hunting, making it difficult to maximize gains using only secondary characters.

INTER-SERVER EXCHANGE, MIDAS' VAULT TO CIRCULATE ECONOMY... DOUBLE RESPONSE TO GOLD FARMERS

The core of the economy system is an "inter-server integrated exchange" that groups three servers, the economy-focused class "Artisan," and "Midas' Vault," where items and diamonds are traded. There is no individual cap on diamond acquisition, but total weekly supply is limited. Paid products include summons, membership, season passes and packages. Components can also be obtained through play, and the game blocks pay access to core growth elements such as weapons, armor and orichalcum.

Its response to gold farmers uses a dual structure of pre- and post-measures. The first response is raising the access hurdle by requiring identity verification to use the exchange. Kim Jung-hoon (김정훈), head of Com2uS' business division, said of the second response, "We automatically detect abnormal behavior through AI learning, and for what does not get caught, we check user reports and impose sanctions and recover gains."

Com2uS also unveiled a six-month update roadmap. Two weeks after launch it will open Colosseum, and within one month it will open a new inter-server area called "Arcadia." It will then repeatedly operate seasons of three weeks of competition and one week of reorganization. In the fourth month it will also add a new class and class change features in stages. To support this, it will set up a dedicated business division and work with Aiberton.

Park Jong-hyuk (박종혁), a Com2uS business manager, said, "After we stabilize it following the domestic launch, we will prepare overseas services," adding, "Our goal is for it to establish itself as a flagship title that provides consistent long-term fun."