The MMORPG Throne and Liberty launched in December 2023 in South Korea. It was originally supposed to be brought to Europe by Amazon in 2024 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. But the latest signal from South Korea is negative.
Here is the status of Throne and Liberty:
- In February 2023, 10 months before the release of Throne and Liberty in South Korea, Amazon committed to bringing the South Korean action MMORPG to Europe.
- First beta tests are already running in Europe, but there is still no release date for the launch in Europe. Allegedly, Amazon is having difficulties implementing the MMORPG for PS5 and Xbox Series X. Since April 17, Amazon has been silent again about Throne and Liberty.
- Meanwhile, bad news about the MMORPG is increasing in its home country.
NCSoft conceals sales figures of Throne and Liberty in South Korea
What is the bad news? The developer of Throne and Liberty, NCSoft, mentioned the current sales figures for all their MMORPGs at an investor conference – except for Throne and Liberty. In the last investor conference, no figures for any MMORPG were provided.
The numbers do not look good anyway; the previously strong mobile MMORPGs are clearly struggling, the “old” PC games are stable, and Guild Wars 2 is even able to gain considerably:
The absence of figures for Throne and Liberty is understood as a sign that the relatively new MMORPG in South Korea is falling short of the developers’ expectations.
The MMORPG seems to have a poor standing in its home country, extensive changes have already been proposed.
Is the fate of WildStar threatening?
Here is the problem: We in the West still remember when NCSoft consistently concealed the sales figures of an MMORPG: That was WildStar, the WoW-killer, which was then killed by WoW.
The MMORPG turned out to be a tragic flop and was ultimately discontinued.
The concealment of the sales figures, along with the absence of a release date from Amazon and the alleged problems for a console port, raises questions about a possible launch of Throne and Liberty.
There is no doubt that the release of Throne and Liberty looked significantly more attractive for Amazon in February 2023 than in May 2024.
It is not a good sign when an MMORPG seems to be running out of steam in its home country even before its launch in Europe. A new PC MMORPG would also be so important for NCSoft; they are currently struggling with their “hype MMORPGs” on mobile, while the existing PC MMORPGs, especially Guild Wars 2, are doing well: Guild Wars 3: Finally, a new MMORPG has been announced, but the announcement was terrible
