There is news from the Korean MMORPG Bless. It is supposed to enter beta here in Germany and Europe in 2017.
Bless is a Korean MMORPG. Currently, Aeria Games, a German publisher, is working on the port for us in the West. There is more information in an interview with Mmoexaminer:
- A first beta test for Bless here in Europe is planned for “sometime in 2017”, that is, sometime in 2017.
- Aeria Games has been in contact with the developers for a long time but asks the fans for patience. It takes time to deliver a high-quality game. Currently, they are still discussing some core features and aspects related to the engine with the developers.
- The plan is to implement voiceover for English and other languages (like German) – that is, voice acting.
- When the European version is released, it should be at a more advanced state than the current Korean version. Developer Neowiz is currently working on a lot of things for both their version and ours.
- This means, for example, that all classes that are currently playable in Korea will also be playable in Germany at launch.
- Aeria Games plans “regional events”, such as an Oktoberfest for their version of Bless in the West. They have had good experiences with this in other games.
- The Korean version will likely always be ahead of our version – as is common with Asian titles. However, they believe they can keep that lead relatively small. After all, Bless was designed with Europe in mind.
Time is running against Bless Online
Mein MMO says: With each month that passes, the longing for Bless diminishes. Moreover, little is heard from the original version from Korea – especially compared to Black Desert, which has announced a port for Ps4 and Xbox One.
The Korean market has been moving away from “classic MMORPGs” in recent months and years. Bless is probably one of the last remnants of its generation. What comes next is already structured quite differently: It is going in the direction of sandbox or whatever Project W will eventually become.
Bless had no great success in Korea. The combat system is said to have been difficult, neither fish nor fowl. The graphics are great, music and sound as well. But that alone does not make a strong game. Therefore, Aeria Games is probably hesitant to bring the game to the market here in its current state. They will fear that it simply won’t work here.
The restructuring of Bless is probably still in full swing in Korea – that explains the long silence. It is always a difficult sign when an MMORPG has to undergo such restructuring after release: In some cases, it works – like with The Elder Scrolls Online. In other cases, it goes terribly wrong, like with WildStar.
One can be curious about what eventually comes out of Bless. Time is critical with such Asia ports. No one here in the West is interested in playing a game two or three years after the Asia release. Other games and publishers have painfully learned this lesson.
Here is a report about Bless from Asia:
