Bless
This is what Bless was supposed to be: Bless was supposed to be an AAA MMORPG, a classic theme park game with PvP content and an interesting “taming” system. After all, you can tame over 600 pets and mounts in Bless.
The game mainly impressed with great trailers and beautiful graphics. The great trailers had been circulating for years before players could even play the game in their country.
However, Bless was not a hit in the previous regions and was even pulled from Korea in 2017 to be revised.
Why was the hype so big? Bless was released in 2018 in Europe. The last major new theme park MMORPG had been WildStar, released 4 years prior.
The people were incredibly eager and hungry for a new MMORPG. And the developers gave hope with statements that they had revamped the game and tailored it for the West.
However, there was no beta beforehand. Bless was released as a full-price title on Steam.
How was the launch? The launch of Bless went catastrophically. In the first hours, Bless suffered from lags and crashes. Many demanded their money back on Steam.
A major MMORPG YouTuber even issued a clear purchase warning for Bless.
In the following days, although the anger settled, players were able to explore Bless, but not many were impressed by what they found.
Bless seemed unfinished, only half-heartedly ported. Numerous players expressed disappointment: This was not the gaming experience they had been waiting for for months.
What went wrong with Bless? Even after launch, little changed. Bless was apparently an “early access” title and far from being a complete MMORPG.
It did not meet the expectations of many players.
The developers regretted the misunderstanding, stating that they should have made it clearer that Bless was a game in development. They promised improvements with the “free-to-play” launch later in 2018. However, that could not bring a turnaround.
What did Bless fail at? Bless left a bad impression on many people. The game apparently never worked properly – and the port to “Europe and the USA” then seemed like a last attempt to still make money from the game without changing much beforehand.
Additionally, Bless did not launch with all the features it already had in other versions. Neowiz apparently planned to deliver the missing features in installments. That was not well received either.
The MMORPG was simply not developed well enough after release. While other MMORPGs like The Elder Scrolls Online bloomed after a weak launch, Bless never experienced such a quality leap.
Where does Bless stand now? Bless is still running on Steam – but the studio behind the game has been reintegrated into the parent company.
Currently, Bless Unleashed, an action MMORPG in the Bless universe, is being developed, but it is meant to be a standalone game.
