Is the old MMORPG market still alive? Yes, it is alive! It has just been reported that Kakao Games (Black Desert) and Bluehole Studio (TERA) have joined forces to release a major AAA MMO.
Kakao Games and Bluehole Studio are trying with combined efforts to develop a new, very ambitious MMORPG with the working title “Project W”. Hyung-Jun Kim, former Chief Art Director at NCSOFT, will lead the upcoming MMO, supported by many other industry veterans in the development team. Kakao is handling publishing in Europe and North America.
What can we expect from Project W?
Bluehole Studios, located in North America and Asia, is primarily responsible for development. Bluehole became known mainly for TERA – with a team that originally worked on Lineage 3, but decoupled to build something new. Successfully. TERA has been among the largest MMOs in the world for years, and according to the market research company SuperData, it is even more successful than EA with Star Wars: The Old Republic. The developers mainly owe this to the release in the West.
That a sequel to TERA and a larger MMORPG from Bluehole is in development has been known for some time. Unfortunately, information so far is scarce. Currently, it is only known that there will be a completely new combat system. No wonder, the apple does not fall far from the tree: after all, the combat system is already the major strength of TERA, if not the heart of the game, which is primarily responsible for its success. Whether it will take place in the world of TERA is pure speculation at this point. According to the press release, more details will follow shortly. A planned release date for Project W is still pending.
We can be curious about what will emerge from the mix, with Bluehole as the father (producer) and Kakao Games as the mother (publisher). Being somewhat optimistically inclined, it is clear that the chief editor of Mein-MMO.de was probably wrong with his thesis. Bless Online will not be the last major MMORPG.
