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NCsoft Shifts NC West Leadership To Korea

Korea-based MMO developer NCsoft has appointed their chief financial officer, Jaeho Lee, as the new CEO of NC West, the company’s recently formed European and North American subsidiary.

NC West was formed last September, unifying NC Interactive, NC Europe, NC Austin and ArenaNet under one group based in Seattle. Lee is replacing Chris Chung, who began his tenure with NCsoft at ArenaNet and went on to become the CEO of NC Interactive.

Reached for comment earlier this week, NCSoft’s corporate PR director Jae Sung Lee, told Kotaku that the move helps solidify the communication between the two groups.

“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,” he said. ” This personnel change increases our ability in each market to remain competitive.”

Chris Lee will remain on the executive team at NC West.

The move comes as NCsoft reported a net income jump of 315 percent year-to-year in their first quarter, with the company’s Aion game bringing in a massive 42.6 billion Korean won.

“Aion has solidified its position as a new growth force without encroaching sales of the Lineage series,” said Jaeho Lee said. “Starting with its service in China in Q2, we are ready for a successful launch of this triple-A franchise in Japan, Taiwan, North America and Europe within the second half of the year.”

NCsoft expects to release big updates for Lineage and Lineage II worldwide in the coming months and will begin beta tests in Eastern for Punch Monster, Dragonica, Steel Dog and Metal Black within the year.

Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)

  • moralambush

    @uvsfijytsvxy: You realize that GW2 is coming out in like 2020 right?

  • uvsfijytsvxy

    As long as I get my Guild Wars 2 they can whatever they want to.

    uvsfijytsvxy

  • Benjammn

    @NeoSamurai:
    $20 mil isn't going to break NCSoft's bank, methinks.

  • Forsakenchild

    @NeoSamurai: He is only suing for like $10mil... May seem like a lot, but I think NCSoft can afford it without a problem if the courts side with Garriot. Nothing for anybody to honestly worry about.

    Forsakenchild

  • Forsakenchild

    @☆スネーク ☆: I know there are some hardcore followers here in the USA for L2, but it is huge overseas in the Asian market. It's a pretty game, but requires some steep grinding for levels. Some illegal servers alleviate this problem by increasing the amount of exp per kill to ungodly amounts.

    Forsakenchild

  • NeoSamurai

    Have fun dealing with the fallout after Garriot sues the shit out of you Jaeho Lee

    NeoSamurai

  • ☆スネーク ☆

    Wait, wasn't Lineage I and (more specifically) II kind of bad? Maybe that's just what I heard, at least... Something about the leveling system or other o_0;.

  • starwind-hawking

    @BarbeQueQ: Too many Q's ahhhh

    starwind-hawking

  • ☆スネーク ☆

    @BarbeQueQ: True dat.

  • BarbeQueQ

    @Noct:

    These comments have too many Nocts.

    BarbeQueQ

  • Noct

    this post has too many lee's

    Noct

  • Noct

    this post has to many lee's :o

    Noct

  • lifeinthefridge

    @moralambush:

    Uhhm...More like 2010-11...?

  • Joshua Bell

    @Forsakenchild:

    Yeah, the leveling up in Lineage II (or any other Korean MMO for that matter) is a ridiculously huge grind. It's kind of like playing Excel or Word.

    But for whatever reason, some people can't seem to get enough of repetitive actions that up your characters stats by +1 after 24 hours of grinding.

    Joshua Bell

  • Saabu

    @NeoSamurai: Just one of their games brought in $35 mil in one quarter. Sure to be a hit on their finance, but nothing damaging.

    Saabu

  • azr

    @Joshua Bell: Grinding in L2 is pretty boring, thank god for clans and ventrilo.

    But L2 offers something that's rare in MMOs these days. Mass-pvp, (forced) faction-free. No other game I know of offers, with the exception of EVE, the feeling of rushing into hundreds of your enemies, enemies that are not your enemies because they chose another race of class, but your enemies because of the server politics. These are people that you choose to fight against, with all the drama that comes along with it.

    But these days, L2 is broken. Botting is commonplace, I even do it myself. L2 is the only MMO that appeals to me, but it could have been so much better.

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