The creators of Lost Ark will soon release their new MMORPG and showcase what to expect in the new trailer. However, fans are not yet convinced.
What kind of MMORPG is this? Lordnine is a new MMORPG being released by Smilegate, the creators of Lost Ark. Similar to its big brother, the MMORPG is played from a top-down perspective, and the battles focus on a mix of attacking and dodging. The game also has some resemblance to Diablo or Path of Exile.
The setting is adapted to Western culture. The developers are said to have visited countries like Italy, Spain, and Mexico for research and captured locations for the game world through 3D scanning.
The MMORPG aims to offer a theme park mix of dungeons, raids, world bosses, large PvP battles, pet systems, and more. There will also be 60 different classes available, allowing you to experience the MMORPG in a unique way through weapon and combat style switching.
You can see how good the MMORPG really looks in the following gameplay trailer:
The legacy of Lost Ark, but not for us just yet
Where will Lordnine be released? As the trailers show, the MMORPG will also be released with an English language version, but the developers of Lordnine will initially not launch the MMORPG in the West.
While the exact release date is not yet known, only the countries of Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines will be able to play the MMORPG at launch. The game will therefore initially be released in Asia.
Lordnine is expected to be available on PC as well as iOS and Android, which players in the Western market traditionally reject. While the MMORPG will be free-to-play and the developers clearly want to avoid Pay2Win in the game description in the Google Play Store, there is still an NFT system (via gam3s.gg) and initial allegations that there could indeed be Pay2Win (via koreaagain.net).
It is still conceivable that Lordnine will also be released in our region. Lost Ark itself initially launched in Asia before it was released here in the West in 2022. The English language version is also a good indication of a later release in the West.
How the MMORPG will be received and whether it will truly become the heir to Lost Ark remains to be seen. It has now become common for MMORPGs to be tested first in the Asian market before they are globally adjusted for release. A similar approach is now being taken by the developers of Aion 2: Aion 2 is considered a major hope for theme park MMORPGs, explaining what is all included
