Bellatores is the latest game from the developer Nyou. They are already known for several mobile MMORPGs. However, their latest work is set to release only for PC on Steam and will be developed using Unreal Engine 5.
What kind of game is this? Bellatores was originally announced as Project N1 in 2020. It is supposed to be a fantasy MMORPG focusing on a medieval world. Although the developer is based in Korea, the primary target audience is the West.
- The world is intended to mix a rather realistic medieval scenario with fantasy elements.
- You will be able to make decisions throughout the story that impact its course.
- Expect a “survival adventure” with massive PvP battles. Various continents in the game world are set to compete against each other.
- The characters are all designed in a more Western style, and there will be no sexualization or gender lock.
When will the game be released? There should be a playable version of the MMORPG in 2022. However, whether it will be the final version or more of an alpha or beta is currently unclear. The developers emphasized that the global release and the international market are important to them.
However, there is still no gameplay footage of Bellatores. Here we have embedded a gallery with current screenshots:
Bellatores receives a lot of funding for development
What is special about the MMORPG? The developers recently announced that they have received a funding boost of around 23 million euros to advance the development of Bellatores. Already in 2020, more than 30 million euros were said to have been provided by investors for development. They are also supposed to help with distribution and the service infrastructure, providing their expertise.
These investments represent large sums, which many Western studios attempting new MMORPGs can only dream of. In addition, Nyou has its own revenue from mobile games.
- Crowfall managed to raise just over 30 million euros after more than 7 years with a crowdfunding campaign and alpha and beta packages, although according to the developers, 5 million came from licensing revenue and about 4.5 million from crowdfunding.
- Ashes of Creation claims to have a budget of just over 40 million euros, with CEO Steven Sharif personally investing around 27 million euros into the game. The remaining funds come from founder packs and licensing.
- Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, on the other hand, seems to constantly operate at the limit. After an initial Kickstarter campaign didn’t even reach 700,000 euros from backers, there was later a seven-figure sum from a private investor. Packages on the website, according to the developers, were bought by over 8,000 people by 2021 (via Pantheon).
However, such large sums are not uncommon, especially with Korean MMORPGs. The small theme park MMORPG Astellia is said to have cost around 27 million euros.
The latest game from NCSoft (Blade & Soul, Lineage, Aion) is also reportedly quite expensive and is set to release for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. The first gameplay trailer looks really good as well:
New “75 million €” MMORPG shows massive boss battles – Looks stunning
