Korean games firm NCsoft partners with web comics company Lehzin
Korean comics co Lehzin Entertainment can now get creative with characters owned by MMO impresario NCsoft ("Guild Wars," "Lineage"), while leveraging its own catalog for interactive gain.
With NCSoft putting a hefty $4.8m (₩5bn) into Lehzin Entertainment, attention turns to the publisher's own slate of upcoming releases.
"Guild Wars 2," which made its retail debut in August 2012, continues to roll out fortnightly expansion packs for free, and players can reciprocate that spirit of generosity by purchasing digital items from an in-game store.
Yet, perhaps more pertinent to NCsoft's latest move are the next three titles in line.
Currently primed for a June 3 release is "WildStar," a new spin on the MMO formula from ex-employees at "World of Warcraft" studio Blizzard; its sci-fi fantasy aesthetic is already closer than most to a traditional cel-shaded animation style and is supported by a pair of promotional digital comics entitled "Tales from Beyond the Fringe."
A little further ahead in 2014 is the long-awaited "Lineage III," arriving over ten years after its predecessor, part of a hugely significant franchise in South East Asia and beyond.
Finally, "Blade & Soul" rocks an overt anime style and has already been launched in China and Korea, with a TV series already provided by the "Basilisk," "Last Exile" and "Afro Samurai" studio Gonzo, and is being readied for wider release in Japan in May, North America before the end of the year, and in Russia and Europe thereafter.
