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Players allegedly negotiating with NCsoft to buy City of Heroes

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, Culture, MMO Industry

Instead of spending gobs of volunteer development time and money on City of Heroes knock-offs, wouldn't it be better to simply acquire the real deal? That's the thought behind a fan effort to purchase the rights to the superhero MMO from NCsoft, while proving to the publisher that the team has the talent and capability to handle the property.

According to a poster named Ironwolf on the Titan Network message boards, progress is being made on this front. Ironwolf wrote the following on August 13th: "I did contact the team yesterday and got this reply back: Things are moving along. We should have things worth showing fairly soon, made a great leap forward yesterday."

The efforts to purchase City of Heroes started in early March, according to a timeline on the same thread. On March 12th, Ironwolf noted, "Got letter back from [former NCsoft executive] Chris Chung -- it showed that is WAS possible to buy the game." On April 5th, he wrote that the general range of the price is "very doable."

[Thanks to Duane for the tip!]

Players allegedly negotiating with NCsoft to buy City of Heroes originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 18 Aug 2014 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NCsoft West gets a new CEO

William Dobson — Fri, 15 May 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, News Items

There's been another shift in the staffing over at NCsoft West. This time, former CEO Chris Chung will be moving aside to let Jaeho Lee take his place. Lee was the chief financial officer of NCsoft, and his appointment at NC West was made with the intention of improving the subsidiary's communication with home base in Korea. NCsoft's corporate PR director Jae Sung Lee gave a comment to Kotaku regarding the move:

"As part of the corporation's global strategy, global management grows increasingly important, and the need to work together across business units becomes paramount to our success. This personnel change increases our ability in each market to remain competitive."

Chris Chung hasn't been turfed out on to the front doorstep as a result of the move and will remain where he is at NCsoft West, albeit with a lesser job title.

NCsoft West gets a new CEO originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 May 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microtransactions, the NCcoin of the realm

Jonathan Northwood — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EST

With all of the discussion about in-game advertisements going on, I thought I'd bring your attention to something else NCsoft is using to provide additional services in-game. Now whether you believe Exteel is a MMO or not, it's the flagship for NCsoft's micro-transaction model using NCcoin, and it's a great way to see if the model's going to work before potential roll-out to other titles. "But Jon," you might ask, "what is NCcoin?" Well, let me 'splain.

NCcoin is a dollar-per-penny in-game transaction process that allows you to purchase in-game equipment, upgrades and enhancements using real-world coinage. Unlike gold farming schemes, however, this isn't a third party asking you to spend $59.99 for 60 million influence. NCcoin is currently available in 100, 500, 1000 and 2000 denominations, and for that you pay $1, $5, $10 or $20, respectively. According to NCsoft NA president Chris Chung, "NCsoft's goal is to bring more and more people into the online gaming market, and part of achieving that goal is to continue to diversify how customers can pay and play."

Microtransactions, the NCcoin of the realm originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NCsoft releases sales numbers for 2007

Chris Chester — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Lineage, Lineage 2, Business Models, MMO Industry, Tabula Rasa

NCsoft's corporate monkeys released their sales numbers yesterday, showing off a solid net profit of $48.4 million, an increase of over 18% last year. Something has to be said for NCsoft's execs like new President Chris Chung, as the company was able to post a strong increase in profit, even as global sales dipped 3% since last year to $355.1 million. Sales for the crucial fourth quarter were up however, jumping 11% to $95.9 million on strong sales from the Lineage series and the launch of Tabula Rasa in November.

Korea continued to be NCsoft's dominant market, accounting for 59% of global sales, as compared to the 17% attributed to North America. This, of course, would account for the fact the relative success of the various franchises. Lineage and Lineage II, which are still wildly popular in Korea, ran sales of $34.2 million and $36.4 million, despite their age. Tabula Rasa, a title ostensibly aimed at the North American market with it's sci-fi and shooter fascinations, saw relatively meager sales of $5.4 million since it launched in November. This is further proof that the Asian market is simply too big to ignore. Companies looking to break Blizzard's grasp on the market may do well to look abroad.

NCsoft releases sales numbers for 2007 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NCsoft's first console game to be announced this year

Michael Zenke — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:15:00 EST

Filed under: Guild Wars, Culture, MMO Industry, News Items, Tabula Rasa, Consoles

Wired notes that, while we still don't know which game NCsoft will be bringing to the PlayStation 3, we can rest assured it's coming soon. Last week's DICE event gave the website a chance to talk to NCsoft's Chris Chung about their future plans for the console. While just a short time ago Mr. Chung was cagey about those details in chats with both Massively and 1up, he was willing to put some details on the record for Wired.

Said the new President, "[We'll have] something to announce--not only announce but to show--by the second half of this year. I'm pretty psyched about that." The piece goes on to note the obvious ways to go: porting some of the more console friendly titles like Guild Wars or Tabula Rasa to the system. Chung says that's not their goal, though, and hints that their announcement will be an all-new title geared specifically for a console. Even though they already have several titles in the works, it'd be great to hear about a brand-new game from this company. Perhaps such a new game would be coming from the mysterious Carbine studios? Only time will tell.

NCsoft's first console game to be announced this year originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NCsoft's North American head honcho speaks to the masses

Eli Shayotovich — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business Models, Interviews, MMO Industry, News Items, Opinion

Chris Chung, the new president over at NCsoft North America, has been a busy man since taking up the position a few weeks ago. Between his interviews with IGN and 1Up, Massively, and other sundry blurbs here and there, he still felt it necessary to address the masses directly - blog style. And it's a fantastic read.

His latest statement doesn't give us any additional earth shattering news about what the company is going to do under his rein - that's been covered ad nauseam, but it does give us a much better perspective on who Chris Chung the person is. I found his honestly particularly comforting because NCsoft is "my" gaming company. While I don't much care for Guild Wars or Lineage II (even though they are absolutely breathtaking in their graphical beauty), I play every one of their other games (Exteel, CoX, Tabula Rasa, Dungeon Runners), played Auto Assault from beta until it ran out of gas, and I can't wait to get my hands on Aion.

It humanizes him in a manner that we don't see too often -- in any industry. He talks openly about how it can be a burden taking over for someone as experienced and respected as Robert Garriott. He believes that he got the job as president not because of some special talent, but the lack thereof. Perhaps the most insightful thing Chris talked about was his managerial style. I can relate because I too am a manager. What, you think I do this full time? While I'm not a manager for a company as large as NCsoft, the tenants stay the same: it's all about taking care of the people. And because I understand that, the thing that will stick with me the most is this quote: my job is to make sure that the employees here at NCsoft do what they do best and that the management team takes care of their needs so we can continue to produce great products for this industry.

If you've been leery of all the changes at NCsoft... don't be. They're in good hands.

NCsoft's North American head honcho speaks to the masses originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Our chat with NCsoft's new president

Michael Zenke — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Super-hero, Aion, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Dungeon Runners, Guild Wars, Business Models, Culture, Economy, Interviews, Launches, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Opinion, Tabula Rasa, Exteel, Free-to-Play, Browser, Consoles, Casual, Interviews (Massively's)

Earlier today we discussed interviews held by Mr. Chris Chung, the new president of NCsoft, with 1up and Game Informer. Massively also had the pleasure of talking to Mr. Chung about NCsoft as a company, and we came away with a few interesting tidbits about the future of the world's most diverse MMO publisher.

In our discussion with Mr. Chung, we primarily focused on the future of the MMO business. We talked about where the future products like Exsteel and Aion fit into the company's stable of games, and examined a bit why NCsoft has been historically so open to alternative business models. Mr. Chung also hints at future plans for the company aimed at younger players.

I particularly found his discussion of possible future ideas for their well-known superhero title City of Heroes intriguing:

Massively: You said that you don't forsee bringing newer business models to subscription games; there's no interest in applying that to a game like City of Heroes?

Mr. Chung: In terms of games like that, the issue is finding out what the players actually want. We need to make sure the players have ways to access the game the way they want. Instead of saying "here's a half-finished product and you're going to pay for the other half" ... if we do offer microtransaction items for City of Heroes we need to ask the fanbase directly what they want that isn't already in the game. We need to figure out what they want, what they'll pay for, before we offer it to them. As we explore this we need to carefully tread this water.

Read on for more of our conversation with NCsoft's new president.

Continue reading Our chat with NCsoft's new president

Our chat with NCsoft's new president originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NCsoft Prez Chris Chung talks shop with GI and 1UP

Chris Chester — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business Models, Interviews, MMO Industry

Game Informer and 1UP both recently had the privilege of sitting down with NCSoft President Chris Chung to talk about what direction he plans to take the company in 2008. Some of the things that Chung spoke about (and there was much overlap between the two interviews) were reminiscent of the comments that Richard Garriott made in his speech at George Washington University late last year. Garriott had talked about how NCsoft was looking to make their stable of MMOs more integrated with one another so that as players tire of one game and move onto another (a phenomenon referred to as "churn" within the industry), they can ensure that it will be another of their products.

He also spoke briefly about NCsoft's current approach to console games, and he sounded considerably more tentative on the subject than we had originally been led to believe. He was complimentary of Sony's network model, and stated that he believed it was more in line with their policies than the competition. If we had to speculate, this would seem to indicate that Microsoft's Xbox Live service, which not only requires propriety features be included but also requires a subscription fee, was not their cup of tea. 1UP was more direct about this line of questioning, going so far as to ask out-right if City of Heroes was making its way to consoles. Chung refused to give a direct answer, but he didn't deny anything either, which is intriguing. It's an interesting interview, and sheds the NCsoft President (who only officially stepped into the role two weeks ago) in a favorable light.

NCsoft Prez Chris Chung talks shop with GI and 1UP originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NCsoft execs play musical chairs, reshuffle

Chris Chester — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:01:00 EST

Filed under: Business Models, MMO Industry

NCsoft sent out a press release today, announcing that two of their big execs were looking for new homes over the holidays. Robert Garriott (not to be confused with Richard Garriott, his brother) is stepping down as the president of NCsoft's North American wing and is going to be taking a far more nebulous role in "global business development and planning." Reportedly, he'll be working with NCsoft's CEO Taek Jim, though it's not clear at this point whether he'll be headed out to NCsoft's home base abroad or whether he'll be staying in Austin long-term.

Taking Garriott's place at the helm of the North American operations will be Chris Chung, who got his start managing the business end of ArenaNet, and will be moving up from his current position as the VP of worldwide product development. Both Garriott's move and Chung's promotion will officially take effect on the first of the new year.

We have no inkling yet whether this will mean anything for us gamers, though we'd assume probably very little.

[Via MMORPG.com]

NCsoft execs play musical chairs, reshuffle originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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