After Lost Ark, Amazon is bringing another Korean MMO to the West
NCSoft's oft-delayed Throne and Liberty looks to be releasing at last
Amazon Games has revealed the newest addition to its slate of online games: the South Korean MMORPG Throne and Liberty.
Last year, Amazon Games brought the MMO Lost Ark to western audiences after it released in South Korea in 2019. Now it's giving the same treatment to NCSoft's Throne and Liberty, a game that's been in various states of development hell for more than a decade.
Throne and Liberty was first announced way back in 2011 as Lineage Eternal, a direct sequel to the first Lineage game, released in 1998. In the years since it was announced, the game has announced, delayed, and shelved plans for a closed beta test, changed engines, and ultimately renamed and repurposed itself as a brand new IP from NCSoft.
"Publishing games that live and grow over time remains a critical piece of our strategy, and delivering games of the highest quality from the world's most talented developers is one of the cornerstones of our business. The last year has taught us a great deal about publishing and managing a successful live-service game on a global scale, and we're ready to bring Throne and Liberty players an incredible experience at launch," said Amazon Games vice president Christoph Hartmann.
With Amazon Games now attached to publish Throne and Liberty in North American and European markets, it looks like Throne and Liberty's long and turbulent development phase could be coming to an end fairly soon. In its announcement, NCSoft says Throne and Liberty is set to release on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in the first half of 2023. However, IGN reports that Amazon Games is not confirming a release window at this time. We've reached out to the developer and publisher for clarification and we'll update this report if we hear back.
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After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.