MMORPGs Launching Quickly in North America

New MMORPGs and MMOs that launched in South Korea and China are making their way fastest to the West than ever before. Just recently Perfect World Entertainment launched their newest game – Forsaken World into closed beta here in the West. The game is STILL in closed beta testing over in China. So the game was localized and launched in BOTH regions at around the same time. I say “around the same time” because it was out in China first, but not by much. Nexon, the company best known for MapleStory and Dungeon Fighter Online, launched Vindictus in North America within 6 months or so of launching it in South Korea. The time it takes for an Eastern game to reach Western shores have been decreasing steadily for quite a few years now. Loong: The Power of the Dragon from Gamigo is yet another example. Unfortunately, things haven’t always been this way.

Digimon Battle from WeMade Entertainment for example, launched in North America some 5+ years after it launched in South Korea and China. Darkeden from JoyMax launched in the States nearly 8 years after it originally debuted in Korea. Just recently PWE launched Heroes of Three Kingdoms in North America, but it had been available in South East Asia as “Redcliff” for numerous years. It’s only recently that games have begun launching in different regions at “around” the same time. Black Prophecy, an upcoming MMORPG from Gamigo is scheduled to launch in both North America and Europe at around the same time too.

Unfortunately, there are still hundreds of games available only in South Korea and China which haven’t launched in the West yet. Luckily, some of these games – JX2 Online, Battle of Destiny, Super Dance Online and Hot Dance Party (Steps) are all playable from North America, even though they are published in South East Asia. Most games not released in America have IP restrictions preventing foreign users from logging in. Beanfun for example has half a dozen games available in Taiwan that aren’t yet available in the West. Luckily, they’re bringing the Japanese MMORPG Lucent Heart to North America real soon. But there are so many other games available in Asia that have yet to be announced in North America.

Even though the gap between new MMORPGs announced in Korea and coming to the West is decreasing, I feel that a lot of the older games are never going to make it to Western shores. It’s unfortunate because many of them would probably be really successful here. I mean just look at games like Silkroad Online from JoyMax and Conquer Online from TQ Digital – both of these Eastern games are huge hits in the West. Legend of Edda, FreeJack and Zentia for example are all really popular here in the West. These titles are new, but even older games “relaunched” here are big. Just look at Fantasy Earth Zero from GamePot USA. It’s an older Japanese MMORPG but it’s a big hit!

Bring some older Chinese MMORPGs and Korean MMORPGs to North America! After all, American MMORPGs like World of Warcraft and Dungeons and Dragons Online are available all over Asia already!

MMORPGs That Will Never Release

I hate seeing awesome new MMORPGs sitting in perpetual closed beta, or perpetual “coming” soon status. Some of the games I’ve been waiting for will unfortunately never see the light of day. One of those games is Dance Groove Online from OutSpark. The game had its first closed beta 7 months ago, but since then there’s been zero update. The official site says “open beta coming soon” but it’s been that way for 7 months now. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to launch anytime soon. This sorta sucks, as I’m a fan of games like Audition Online from T3Fun and even Dance Online from Acclaim. These rhythm based dancing MMOs are surprisingly fun. I was looking forward to Dance Groove Online because the game was developed by Electronic Arts, so it was bound to be very high quality, as EA’s other free to play games including FIFA Online and BattleForge are quite amazing. It seems like Outspark will never launch Dance Groove Online, just like they never launched Blackshot and Erebus: Travia Reborn.

Another MMORPG that looks like it’ll never release is Huxley: The Dystopia from ijji. I’d bet anything that this game will never come out. The game was originally designed and planned out as a console FPS, but for some reason decided to be a pay to play MMOFPS. In its latest development the game decided to be free to play and announced that ijji would publish it. After two closed beta, the game has been in “coming soon” mode for over 5 months now. This is too bad, especially since Huxley looked pretty original compared to ijji’s other MMO shooters, which include Soldier Front, Genesis A.D, Karma: Operation Barbarossa and Alliance of Valinat Arms. The reason why Huxley was different is that it had persistent world MMO elements and actual RPG style progression. The only other game like that was PlanetSide from Sony Online Entertainment and that is a pay to play game with a free trial.

Yet another game that’s likely to never release is Altis Gates from IGG. It’s supposed to be some cool new turn based MMORPG, but its open beta has been delayed twice now and the second time it has been delayed “indefinitely”. When Open betas MMOs get delayed, it’s never a good sign. Hero:108 Online delayed its open beta for only one day just recently, but when a game delays “indefinitely” it’s always a bad sign. Uforia recently delayed Camon Hero indefinitely, so I’m a bit upset about that. Camon Hero looked awesome, but I haven’t lost hope on that one yet. I’m starting to get worried about Land of Chaos Online from Alaplaya, which has no defined open beta date. Not having a clear beta schedule is also a bad sign.

If I missed any other MMORPGs that will never release, let me know in the comments.