AUSTIN, Texas - Sept. 22, 2005 - NCsoft® (KSE: 036570.KS), the world's leading developer and publisher of online computer games announces yet another milestone for its top-selling competitive roleplaying game, Guild Wars®, from ArenaNet® studios. More than one million units have been purchased since the game launched on April 28th of this year, and the numbers are increasing.
"We reached this lofty goal in an extremely short period of time," said Robert Garriott, president of NCsoft's North American business. "We launched the game in late April and throughout the notoriously slow summer buying season, account activations just continued to grow. Our business model, which does not require a subscription fee, coupled with the quality of the game, have struck a chord with gamers everywhere."
"At EBGames, Guild Wars has been one of the most successful PC products during the summer and early fall," said Carol Beck, vice president of merchandising at EBGames. "As we head to the critical holiday shopping season, we expect the game to continue to be a top seller and become one of the most requested games on holiday shopping lists."
"We are extremely pleased the game has been so well received in such a short amount of time," said ArenaNet co-founder Michael O'Brien. "Our commitment to our players is consistently to provide high-level support for the game through frequent gameplay and content updates and we believe that's a big reason why we have so many people playing the game today."
Earlier this month ArenaNet released their Sorrow's Furnace Update, a free expansion of Guild Wars content that offers two new explorable regions, new quests, new monsters, new items and more. Players already are applauding the newly released update.
Guild Wars is a competitive online roleplaying game that rewards player skill more than time played. Players explore a rich fantasy game world, acquire skills, build personalized characters and compete in head-to-head guild battles with players from around the world.
NCsoft and ArenaNet soon will be launching Guild Wars in both Japan and Taiwan with fully-localized versions.
More information about Guild Wars can be found at http://www.guildwars.com.
ArenaNet, located in Bellevue, Washington, is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft® Corporation. ArenaNet has built a state-of-the-art, interactive game network and develops premier multiplayer online games for dedicated game players. ArenaNet's first title, Guild Wars, is a global online roleplaying game that allows gamers to play with anyone, anytime and anywhere in the world. The novel business model, which requires no subscription fees and emphasizes instant action rather than time spent playing, has undoubtedly contributed to the huge commercial success of Guild Wars. More information about ArenaNet can be found at www.arena.net.
Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, NCsoft Corporation is the world's leading developer and publisher of online games. Founded in 1997, NCsoft is home to Lineage®, the world's most successful online role playing game. NCsoft has joint venture offices located in Japan, Taiwan, and China, as well as branches in North America and the United Kingdom. In fiscal year 2004, NCsoft posted revenues of KRW (Korean Won) 246 billion or approximately US$246 million. More information about NCsoft can be found at http://www.ncsoft.net