In 2018, we reported that the MMORPG Blade & Soul was supposed to receive an update to Unreal Engine 4. However, this was delayed, and there were rumors that the project would be discontinued. But the engine switch is now definitely expected in the summer of 2021.
What kind of update is this? The Korean developer NCSoft announced in 2018 that the nearly 7-year-old MMORPG Blade & Soul was to be visually updated. This was to involve upgrading the old engine (UE3) to Unreal Engine 4.
At that time, they promised:
- Improved lighting and shadow effects
- Adjustments to water and overall reflections
- Performance upgrades, resulting in better overall performance for the MMORPG
What happened then? In 2019, more comparison images and videos of the update were shared. Indeed, Blade & Soul looked like a truly modern MMORPG. However, the update took its time.
On February 26, 2020, the Frontier servers in Korea were launched. There, players could enjoy a revised version of Blade & Soul adapted to Unreal Engine 4. However, these servers separated players from each other, as there was no crossplay.
In March 2021, rumors began to circulate that the transition to Unreal Engine 4 would not happen at all.
Blade & Soul shuts down Frontier servers, brings the major update in summer
What is the current status? In fact, NCSoft will shut down the Frontier servers of Blade & Soul in May. As reported by MMOCulture, according to NCSoft, these could not deliver “satisfactory results”.
But the Unreal Engine 4 project is not dead. In the same breath, the developers announced a major update for summer 2021, in which the actual Blade & Soul will finally be updated.
MMORPG.com asked NCSoft for a statement in this context and learned that the upgrade to Unreal Engine 4 is set to occur both in Korea and the West in summer. However, there is still no exact date for this.
What does the major update bring? According to MMOCulture, the update mainly brings 3 major innovations:
- The upgrade to Unreal Engine 4
- Even more refined graphical improvements than on the Frontier servers
- A new 4-player dungeon with various difficulty levels
What’s next for Blade & Soul? In 2021, new specializations for old classes and even a completely new class have already been announced in Korea.
Usually, we also receive the content in the West, but with several months of delay. Recently, we got the new class Astromancer in autumn 2020.
Further plans for the year are to be published according to the official site in the coming days.
Blade & Soul is in decline, Aion on a high
How is Blade & Soul doing in 2021? The MMORPG is far from its prime. Although there are no exact player numbers for Blade & Soul, the interest in the game and the activity on Reddit has significantly decreased.
Since 2018, the MMORPG has been in decline in terms of revenue figures. Recently, it made even less worldwide than games like Guild Wars 2 and Lineage 2. That looked very different in 2018. Back then, Blade & Soul earned more than double compared to today.
Another MMORPG from NCSoft, however, is on the rise. Aion is very successful in Korea due to a new feature and had the strongest revenue at the end of 2020 since 2016:
MMORPG Aion is currently doing better than it has in years – here’s why
