Many MMORPG fans are currently waiting for Lost Ark. It is already playable in Korea. But the situation has since changed there. What happened?
Which MMORPG is it about? Lost Ark by Smilegate has thrilled players since the first trailers. The game looks really good, is dynamic, and combines the action-packed fights and gameplay perspective of Diablo with the complex mechanics and depth of a classic MMORPG.
A Highly Anticipated MMORPG
How has the mood been so far? Those who were able to participate in the Korean beta have shown enthusiasm so far. It sparked a huge hype in Korea when the Open Beta launched in October. Lost Ark was overwhelmed.
- Lost Ark plays smoothly and looks great
- It offers plenty of content and interesting group activities, essentially merging the MMORPG genre with Diablo 3
- You explore a vast world
- The battles are action-packed yet tactical
Therefore, anticipation has been rising for a long time to finally be able to play it in Europe.
What is the current status of the MMORPG? Lost Ark is getting a major update in Korea next week, introducing new content and another continent. The developers are taking care of the game and regularly providing fans with content.
The Mood is Declining
What is the current mood? You can sense that enthusiasm is waning. Players here are getting a bit impatient because they have been waiting too long and there is no launch date.
There is a fear that Lost Ark will be “done” before we can even play it. It was already evident in April that interest in the MMORPG was clearly decreasing.
But even internationally, the mood is declining. This is partly due to the introduction of a new feature that allows you to automatically complete raids for money.
Many players see this as a mechanic of mobile games and now believe that the developers want to cater more to mobile gamers with Lost Ark.
This is not so far-fetched, as there are rumors about a mobile version of the MMORPG and mobile games are extremely popular in Asia. So if a mobile version of Lost Ark comes out, it’s only logical that corresponding mechanics will be incorporated.
But fans are currently not pleased at all. Many had hoped for a complex, deep PC MMORPG. And now Lost Ark is increasingly turning into a mobile game.
What do the player numbers look like? A downward trend can be seen for Lost Ark.
Through the website Gamemetrics, you can see how popular games are in Korea right now.
What was visible there: The market share of the MMORPG had dropped from 14% to 3.64% between November 2018 and April 2019.
Several months after the launch of a major MMO, this was still within the usual range, if not even above average. Lost Ark consistently ranked in the top 5. However, the losses in player numbers seem to be endless.
Now in June, it is only at position 10, with a market share of around 2%, trailing behind Maple Story, which has now overtaken it. Player numbers have almost halved within 2 months.
What do you think of Lost Ark? Do you still have interest in the MMORPG?
A similar trend is noticeable on Twitch. There are fewer and fewer streams for the game.
What are players saying? The mood on Reddit is currently not very good. Regarding the feature that automatically completes raids for money, users write:
- ArcticMonkey667 says: “We are surprised because it is a PC game and not a mobile game. At least for now…”
- sythalrom explains: “And that has made me lose interest in this game.”
- Freakindon sarcastically says: “Who could have seen that coming?”
However, there are still players defending Lost Ark. For example, chazzstrong states: “It is an action RPG. And that is exactly how I will play it. I’m not concerned about monetization. The game looks fantastic!”
What do you think of Lost Ark? Do you still have interest in the MMORPG?
