Smilegate is also currently looking for professional game testers for their quality assurance, presumably to test new game content.
A downside for us in the West: Even if Lost Ark truly picks up this pace in 2018 and appears in South Korea, it doesn’t mean that we in the West will get our hands on it. A western port has not yet been confirmed.
More about Lost Ark and why the game has so many fans:
How Project TL and Lost Ark want to save the PC MMORPG
In Lost Ark, a soft launch is subtly indicated for 2018. But before that, a closed beta must take place.
Lost Ark might be the MMORPG that fans worldwide are looking forward to the most. A modern MMORPG in the isometric perspective of Diablo 3 with a destructible environment and fresh ideas. MMORPG fans are salivating.
Lost Ark has already held two closed betas in South Korea: the last one in September 2017.
But the depressing and unusual thing for us in the West is that between these beta phases, the MMORPG goes dark. In other words, nothing is known about the plans and not much is heard. What seems to us in the West like the worst has happened and Lost Ark has suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth is perfectly normal for Asian games.
After the 3rd Closed Beta, things often move quickly
In the West, games are developed in such a way that a closed beta takes place immediately before the release – in Asia, development is done differently.
The development cycle of Lost Ark includes 3 closed beta phases. Two have already been held. So, another closed beta is next.
After that, the game is supposed to be rebalanced. The significant development has already been completed with the start of the 3rd closed beta.
Finally, a final test follows, followed by an “open beta.” The “open beta” is essentially the release.
It is known from other Asian games that after the 3rd closed beta, things often proceed quickly. After the last closed beta, we are not talking about years anymore, but only about months.
Then the game is actually already finished and on the home stretch to open beta and soft launch. Once an Asian MMORPG is in open beta, there are no resets anymore; the game is essentially released.
A few months after the open beta, when more features are in the game, the developer says: “Okay, now it’s release.”
What is the status now? Is Lost Ark already in open beta in 2018?
It could actually go faster for Lost Ark than expected. According to a PR message in Korea discovered by fans, Smilegate plans the open beta for 2018.
Before that, the 3rd closed beta and the final test must be squeezed in. However, a precise schedule has not yet been published. Everything is still tentative.
Smilegate is also currently looking for professional game testers for their quality assurance, presumably to test new game content.
A downside for us in the West: Even if Lost Ark truly picks up this pace in 2018 and appears in South Korea, it doesn’t mean that we in the West will get our hands on it. A western port has not yet been confirmed.
More about Lost Ark and why the game has so many fans:
