Xbox One Getting MMO Neverwinter; Coming to China First, then US and Europe

MMORPG Neverwinter is coming consoles, beginning with Xbox One, publisher Perfect World Entertainment announced today. The free-to-play game developed by Cryptic Studios and based in the Dungeons & Dragons Universe will launch first in China this September, before it comes to North America and Europe in the first half of 2015.

Interestingly, Perfect World said in a statement that Neverwinter is "coming to consoles, starting with Xbox One," suggesting other platforms are also in the works, including potentially the PlayStation 4.

Neverwinter was originally released for PC in June 2013. The Xbox One version will require an Xbox Live Gold subscription, which will cost you $10/month or $60/year. You might think that consoles aren't a great match for MMOs, considering that a game controller is often less functional than a keyboard and mouse, but Perfect World doesn't see it this way.

"Consoles are a perfect fit for action-oriented MMORPGs like Neverwinter, and we are thrilled to be one of the first publishers to bring premium free-to-play titles to leading next-gen platforms," Perfect World CEO Alan Chen said in a statement. "Being able to bring Neverwinter to the Xbox One is a critical achievement for Perfect World. It is our first step taking our games beyond the PC market."

While gamers await the console version of Neverwinter, they can play the new Tyranny of Dragons expansion for the PC version. Launching August 14, this expansion adds the new Scourge Warlock character, among other things.

Another high-profile MMO coming to consoles is The Elder Scrolls Online, which was recently delayed, and is now coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 sometime this holiday.