Matt: Is there an overarching goal driving your efforts in 2026? JJ: For the multiple new IPs coming in 2026 and 2027, our goal, first and foremost, is to build games our players love for a long time. For live-service games, continuously improving the product over
time, based on players’ feedback, is key to our long-term success. To achieve our goals, I identify new missions for my organization, such as “prioritize day-to-day live operations,” “listen to the community to make better decisions,” and more. But it all comes down to one driving principle: Building a “Player-First Culture.” We prioritize community feedback to improve service quality for live-service titles. We prioritize “happy players” as a metric and use community voice as a compass for the live-service direction.
Matt: You have an incredibly ambitious plan for this year; can you take us through these key releases? JJ: Yes, it’s ambitious. We’re planning to bring more than several new titles to our players: AION 2, Cinder City, Time Takers, Limit Zero Breakers, Horizon Steel Frontiers, and at GDC, DEFECT was announced officially. AION 2’s global release is one of our biggest projects. The sequel
to the original AION that launched in 2008, AION 2 is built on Unreal Engine 5 and brings players a wildly imaginative, colorful and stunning new world that’s 36 times larger than the original. The combat is uniquely distinct because players use flight not only to explore the world, but to fight. Character progression and customization are enormously deep and the content diversity is probably what makes AION 2 truly unique. Cinder City is the ultimate post-apocalyptic MMO shooter. Players
suit up as a futuristic knight desperate to save his daughter and the world in an alternate 23rd-century Seoul, Korea. Gamers will have to navigate a world reshaped by future technology, fighting against high- tech enemies, mutants, giant mechs, and more. The game starts with a strong narrative driven campaign mode, and leads to a seamless open-world for co-op MMO gameplay. We’re working with Korean developer Mistil Games on Time
Takers, a time-based survival shooter. The game design concept is very cool. It drops four squads of three unique characters (12 players in all) into wildly different landscapes across the span of time to fight against each other for time units to win the match. We just finished our first closed beta test in March. Keep your eyes peeled! Limit Zero Breakers is an anime-inspired action RPG that stands
out from the rest of our games because of its distinctive art style and gameplay. Anime and RPG fans will love the art design, well-written characters, and action-packed RPG gameplay, especially if they love Monster Hunter. Vic Game Studios is backed by the Japanese media and animation powerhouse, Kadokawa. We’re ready to announce the first CBT dates very soon. NCSOFT announced one of our biggest collaborations and titles,
Horizon Steel Frontiers, last November at G-Star. We’re developing an all-new action-adventure MMORPG in-house and collaborating closely with developer Guerrilla Games and Sony Interactive
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Entertainment at every step. The first reveal received huge global response from a variety of players, influencers, and press worldwide. Last, we recently announced we will publish the close-
quarter first-person shooter, DEFECT. Created by the developer emptyvessel, DEFECT features a dark, dystopian world and lore, offering immersive gameplay that creates tension and requires constant decisions and strategic actions working with or against other players. This is a very meaningful project as it’s NC America’s first publishing partnership deal with a western developer.
Matt: The collaboration with Sony on Horizon Steel Frontiers is particularly exciting news for me! What more can you say about this project? JJ: Yes, Horizon Steel Frontiers is for both mobile and PC and it’s set in the “Deadlands”. It builds on Horizon’s hunting-action gameplay but introduces advanced MMORPG systems and customizable combat giving players a lot of freedom. Steel Frontiers is filled with mechanical creatures and large-
scale battles, but since it’s new and an MMO, we’re introducing new gameplay mechanics for both travel and combat. The game will offer 16–30-person co-op raids against massive machines, and player-driven tribal competitions for resources among other things.
Matt: Is it too early to ask what 2027 and beyond looks like for NCSOFT? JJ: Haha, yes, it is too early to share specific plans for 2027, but I can tell you we have a great plan for the next couple of years.
Matt: And I understand you’re on the lookout for more talent? JJ: Yes; we’re actively hiring more like-minded people. If you have strong passion for videogames and want to help build healthy supportive players’ community around those titles, please apply! We emphasize five core values at NC America: passion, creativity, persistence, authenticity, and collaboration. I look forward to finding more people who believe in these core values and want to work together.
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