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NCsoft prepping two Unreal MMOGs

Korean publisher signs Epic Games engine for pair of unannounced massively multiplayer projects.

While Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 has gained the most notoriety as the driving force behind hit shooters such as Gears of War and BioShock, the tech has proven itself to be versatile, having been implemented in several epic-scale role-playing games such as BioWare's Mass Effect and Mistwalker's Lost Odyssey. The engine has also been popular in the massively multiplayer online RPG scene, with the most recent adopter being Curt Schilling's 38 Studios.

Now, Korea-based MMOG stalwart NCsoft said it would be picking up the latest version of Epic's game engine for two as-yet-unannounced massively multiplayer projects. No stranger to Epic's brand of game-powering technology, NCsoft has used Epic's Unreal Engine 2 in Lineage II and the soon-to-be-released Exteel.

Aside from saying the games would be "top-tier" MMOGs, NCsoft gave no other details on the two upcoming projects. The publisher also didn't mention whether the games would appear on the PC or consoles.

38 Comments

  • ctg867

    Posted Mar 26, 2008 5:40 pm GMT

    @ Ranma_X_basic

    There is no way on Earth that Huxley will come out this year, and there is a good chance that it will never come out. Rumors of it's cancellation have been around since it was first announced. IGN probably hasn't updated the release date for it since it's been so long since we've heard or seen anything about it...

  • sonicare

    Posted Mar 26, 2008 8:14 am GMT

    Quite possible Guild Wars 2.

  • BringTheBlood

    Posted Mar 26, 2008 7:38 am GMT

    ehh......thats all i got.

  • markharris31

    Posted Mar 26, 2008 6:04 am GMT

    It's tough to make a great looking MMO that a majority of today's hardware can handle... but if you want pretty, check out Aion, also by NCSoft.

  • Erebus

    Posted Mar 26, 2008 1:00 am GMT

    Awww... I was hoping for an Unreal Tournament style MMO. Yes, it would be fun for about 20 minutes, but that is 20 minutes of fun I was hoping to get.

  • HappyBB

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 11:40 pm GMT

    I am so SICK of seeing NC-Soft keeps pumping out MMOGs. Does the world need more of them!? All its games look and play similiarly! I don't know who is developing the Dragonball MMO, but the game looks like a typical Korean-made MMOG. I don't feel the spirit and essence of the Dragonball universe from what I saw. Sigh...

    Even though the mentioned new games will be using the Unreal engine, I doubt they are gonna be any different. But I hope I will be so WRONG coz I wanna be surprised and may even be liking to play them!!

  • Tripwolf

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 4:59 pm GMT

    Probably more cannon-fodder. When are game makers going to learn that WoW is succesful because it's a FANTASTIC game... they won't be able to touch it unless they poor their hearts into making a single solid game.

  • VenomRitual

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 4:57 pm GMT

    sounds good

  • jknight5422

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 4:39 pm GMT

    What the hail? I hope these games don't make me dizzy...Unreal Engine seems to have that effect on me.

  • haze_blaze

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 4:10 pm GMT

    Well... they will likely be MMO's for the console considering that NCSoft has a development deal with Sony now.

  • jansdman

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 3:59 pm GMT

    IMO they should just concentrate on doing one or better yet just fully support games on current projects. Quality > quantity = good MMO.

  • kickyourq

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 3:57 pm GMT

    please on consoles...im mmo starved on my frickin xbox and ps3

  • wytefang

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 3:53 pm GMT

    Yawn. 2 more failures waiting to happen. No more MMOs please - NC Soft, you're the biggest offender in this regard. Go away and keep your MMOs in Korea where they have nothing better to do, apparently.

  • qmoney88

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 3:39 pm GMT

    im guessing those two games are part of the deal that sony and ncsoft made a while back, which would be awesome

  • syncmaster150

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 3:34 pm GMT

    Unreal engine 3 is great but how does it have to do with the game play? It almost only makes a difference in visuals

  • Wanderer5

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 3:27 pm GMT

    I wonder if Guild Wars 2 will be using the engine? That would be cool.

  • viperhellfire

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 2:26 pm GMT

    That would be awesome if GW would use the UE3 engine. I agree with runstalker let's get GW2 and finish it.

  • runstalker

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 2:17 pm GMT

    Guild Wars 3 would likely have to license the Unreal Engine 4, because it won't exist, if at all, before 2012. Let's get GW 2 and its inevitable expansions done first, eh?

  • Merl57

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 2:10 pm GMT

    Oh my god Guildwars 3 with unreal engine?

  • runstalker

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 2:09 pm GMT

    I pray it's their top tier Korean teams handling the UE3 projects. I have more faith in their ability to mod the engine into a MMO engine. The Lineage 2 team, while I'm not a fan of that type of MMO, they did a really good job modding the Unreal 2.5 engine into a seamless no-loading MMO world engine. Great artists too. I don't see as much technical or graphical prowess in NCsoft's US teams - save for ArenaNet, who is using its own proprietary engine tech for GW 2. They have WoW's lead engine programmer on staff and the new engine is supposedly UE3 grade.

  • Ranma_X_basic

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 1:34 pm GMT

    Hope whatever games NCSoft comes up with using the unreal 3 engine turns out good. and i hope it'll be multiplatform (That includes the 360 lol).

    And to the guy that asked about huxley according to IGN.com it's coming out i think toward the end of this year. they had a trailers of it a few weeks ago.

  • SrTVBR

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 1:30 pm GMT

    Unreal Engine is very well made. Beautiful, fast, no bugs.

  • haesuse

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 1:30 pm GMT

    my god these guys just keep stamping out mediocre MMO's. personally i dont care about either no matter what they are, unless it is the highly hyped PS3 MMO, and that i will watchfully monitor more or less out of curiosity and not because its the Wal-MArt of MMO's making yet another game!

  • Kraige

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 1:25 pm GMT

    Weren't NCsoft doing a PS3 MMO game I think I remember hearing that somwhere maybe this has something to do with that, though it still won't be any better than there other games IMO.

  • Slashgibber

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 1:14 pm GMT

    I friggin hate all of NCsofts games, they all suck imo and UE3 would not change that.

  • Wolfcp11

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 12:25 pm GMT

    Guild Wars 2 on the Unreal 3 Engine.... hell ya!

  • steven141

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 12:25 pm GMT

    Since they are with Sony now, it is entirely possible that it could be PS3/PC

  • 09231991

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 12:23 pm GMT

    sounds cool

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 11:53 am GMT

    Could these be the projects for the PS3?

  • xmg0

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 11:51 am GMT

    "A good looking MMO for once? Awesome..." Haha, that's so true!

  • Tom1243

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 11:50 am GMT

    A good looking MMO for once? Awesome...

  • sykonfc

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 11:49 am GMT

    Epic is racking in tons of cash with their new engine.

  • ctg867

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 11:48 am GMT

    Isn't NCsoft working with Sony now? If they are, I would assume they would be dual PS3/PC games.

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 11:48 am GMT

    Speaking of FPS and MMO's...what ever happened to Huxley?

  • OfficialBed

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 11:48 am GMT

    sounds good to me

  • Obliterati

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 11:28 am GMT

    Smart move. You gotta start somewhere, so you might as well start with a reliable and effective game engine.

  • Sheiko

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 11:25 am GMT

    Great engine doesn't mean great game. Here's to Top Tier though.

  • falcon11

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 11:10 am GMT

    Cool! Hope there are interesting premises.

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