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NC (company)

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NC Corporation (Korean: 엔씨), formerly known as NCSoft (Korean: 엔씨소프트) is a South Korean video game developer and publisher headquartered in Pangyo, Seongnam, South Korea, primarily known for the distribution of massively multiplayer online role-playing games such as Lineage and Guild Wars.[4]

NC Corporation
Native name
엔씨
Company type
Public
KRX: 036570
IndustryVideo games
Founded11 March 1997; 29 years ago (1997-03-11)
FounderKim Taek-jin
HeadquartersPangyo, Seongnam, South Korea
Key people
Kim Taek-jin (CEO)
ProductsSee complete list of products
Revenue
  • Decrease ₩1.507 trillion (2025)
  • Increase ₩16.1 billion (2025)
  • Increase ₩347.4 billion (2025)
Total assets
  • Increase ₩4.333 trillion (2025)
Total equity
  • Increase ₩3.370 trillion (2025)
Owner
[1]
Number of employees
3100
Websitenc.com
Footnotes / references
[2][3]
Kim Taek-jin, founder and CEO

History

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NCSoft was founded in March 1997 by Kim Taek-jin. In September 1998, NCSoft launched its first game Lineage. In April 2001 the company created a US subsidiary under the name NC Interactive (based in Austin, Texas, and later became NCSoft West) after acquiring Destination Games, headed by Richard Garriott and Robert Garriott.[5] In 2004, NCSoft launched two MMORPGs, Lineage II and City of Heroes.[6] In December 2023, NCsoft released the MMPRPG 'Throne and Liberty'.[7]

The company formed NCSoft Europe in July 2004 as a wholly owned subsidiary with its main office in Brighton, England. They brought City of Heroes to several European countries on February 4, 2005, and have since established European service for WildStar and Blade & Soul as well.[8]

On April 26, 2005, NCSoft published Arenanet's first MMO Guild Wars Prophecies as well as Arenanet's follow up campaigns Factions and Nightfall and the expansion Eye of the North. NCSoft also published Guild Wars 2 but stopped being the publisher for Guild Wars 2 in 2015 with the release of Heart of Thorns.[9]

On September 10, 2008, NCSoft announced the formation of NCSoft West, a subsidiary which manages NCSoft's other western organizations, and established its headquarters in Seattle, Washington.[10] On July 28, 2021, NCSoft announced that it was adding the talents of long-time video game industry veteran Jeffrey Anderson (game designer) to its executive leadership team as the new CEO of NCSoft West, overseeing its games business in the Americas, EMEA, and Oceana regions.[11]

On July 8, 2011, NCSoft started talks with SK Telecom to acquire Ntreev Soft Co., Ltd.[12] The talks were expected to last less than a month, but it took seven for NCSoft to complete the acquisition; purchasing 76% of Ntreev's stock for ₩108 billion (US$96.7 million) on February 15, 2012.[13]

In 2011, NCSoft purchased Hotdog Studio, a mobile game studio based in Seoul that produces phone and smartphone titles such as Dark Shrine.[14]

In June 2012, NCSoft launched Blade & Soul, its first MMORPG since Aion launched in 2008.[15]

In 2012 Nexon acquired a 14.7 percent interest in NCSoft for $688 million.[16] Nexon sold all of its shares of NCSoft in October 2015.[17]

On November 19, 2015, NCSoft West announced the formation of Iron Tiger studios, a developer based in San Mateo, California focused on adapting Korean-made mobile titles for the West, as well as developing its own mobile games.[18]

On August 21, 2020, NCSoft entered the Korean entertainment industry by launching a new subsidiary called "Klap Co., Ltd."[19] Klap and NCSoft launched the entertainment platform UNIVERSE on January 28, 2021.[20]

In March 2022, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia acquired a 9.26 percent stake in NCSoft, becoming the company's second largest shareholder after Kim Taek-jin.[1][21]

In November 2023, NCSoft announced that it had signed a strategic partnership with Sony Interactive Entertainment.[22] On January 18, 2024, NCSoft wound down and laid off all 70 employees of its Ntreev Soft subsidiary.[23]

NCsoft received the Chinese government's approval for its online games on October 25, 2024.[24][25]

On April 2, 2026, the company name was changed to NC.[26][27]

Subsidiaries

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Current

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Former

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NcSoft structure

Controversies

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Stolen source code

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On April 27, 2007, Seoul Metropolitan Police said that seven former employees of NCSoft are suspected of selling the Lineage III source code to a major Japanese game company.[29] According to NCSoft, the potential damages may exceed US$1 billion.[30]

Worlds.com patent lawsuit

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Worlds.com CEO Thom Kidrin claimed the idea of a "scalable virtual world with thousands of users" is patented by his organization[31] and targeted NCSoft for patent infringement in 2008,[32] in what he says will be the first of many lawsuits against MMO developers.[31] On April 23, 2010, the Worlds.com case settled, but the terms of the settlement were kept confidential.[33] On July 22, 2010, Worlds.com requested the case be reopened.[34]

Richard Garriott termination

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Richard Garriott, lead developer of the failed MMORPG Tabula Rasa, sued NCSoft for US$24 million in damages concerning his termination from the company. Garriott asserted in his suit that he was forced out of the company and was made to sell his 400,000 shares in NCSoft's stock, costing him millions of dollars. In addition, he claimed that the company was guilty of fraud by forging his resignation announcement.[35] On July 30, 2010, a jury in a Texas federal court awarded him US$28 million in damages. NCSoft described Garriott as someone "who keeps finding different ways to turn the company into his personal ATM," and that "Garriott left the company voluntarily to catch his ride to the International Space Station." Citing his questionable work ethic and the failure of his video game project despite an $84.4 million investment, NCSoft pulled the plug on the game after which Garriott announced he would be leaving the company. This came after he boarded a much-publicized news on his boarding of a Russian aircraft, which cost $30 million.[36] Garriott again prevailed on appeal and NCSoft was required to pay an additional US$4 million, bringing the total damages awarded to Garriott to US$32 million.[37]

Closure of Paragon Studios and City of Heroes

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On August 31, 2012, NCSoft liquidated Paragon Studios and announced the closure of City of Heroes. Over 21,000 players signed an online petition contesting the shut-down[38] and many used social media to promote their criticisms.

Major company reconstruction in South Korea

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In 2024, NCSoft underwent significant restructuring in South Korea to tackle persistent financial challenges and reduce rigid fixed costs. The process began with the closure of its subsidiary, Ntreev Soft, leading to the layoff of 70 employees in January 2024 after enduring an 11-year deficit. Consequently, the development and service of Trickster M, Pro Baseball H2, and Pro Baseball H3 were terminated.[39] Prior to its main branch overhaul, the company also split its software business into two support units in August 2024: NC QA (quality assurance) and NC IDS (application and system software management).[40]

On November 28, 2024, NCSoft's shareholders officially approved the corporate split-off plan to transition into an independent multi-studio system. The four planned specialized units were officially launched as wholly-owned private subsidiaries on February 1, 2025:[41]

  • NC AI oversees proprietary AI technologies, including the scale-up of NCSoft's Varco Large Language Model (LLM) to optimize game development workflows (such as character modeling and quest scripting). It is led by Lee Yeon-soo.
  • FirstSpark Games inherited the MMORPG Throne and Liberty to manage its live services and focus on expanding the title into a global intellectual property (IP), headed by Moonyoung Choi.
  • BigFire Games assumed responsibility for developing the open-world competitive shooter Project LLL (initially referred to during planning as Cinder City), guided by vice president of game development Jaehyun Bae.
  • Ludius Games took over the strategy-genre title TACTAN: Knights of the Gods, led by Minseok Seo.

In the wake of this restructuring, NCSoft disbanded remaining non-aligned teams and cut non-core projects. This included the cancellation of the ultra-realistic single-player action thriller Project M and the cessation of the newly released game Battle Crush. Alongside these cuts, a major voluntary retirement program was executed, resulting in an approximate 10% reduction in total headcount to streamline the company's bloated payroll.[42]

Following the completion of this painful transition, the company's financial health began to turn around. After booking a significant net loss and absorbing one-time severance costs, NCSoft returned to profitability.[43] This stabilization was accelerated by the massive November 2025 launch of Aion 2 in South Korea, and Taiwan and the February 2026 debut of Lineage Classic in South Korea, pushing PC online game sales to their highest levels since 2017.[44] Moving forward, NCSoft has oriented its long-term strategy around data-driven mobile casual games, global expansion alongside partners like Amazon Games and Sony, and a multi-studio operational model designed to shorten development cycles.[45]

Games

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Year Title Developer Genre Notes
1998 Lineage NCSoft (Team L2Live) MMORPG
2003 Lineage II NCSoft MMORPG
2004 City of Heroes Paragon Studios MMORPG Shut down on November 30, 2012. On January 4, 2024, Homecoming Servers had announced it had been given a limited license[46] to run their server.
2005 Guild Wars ArenaNet MMORPG
2006 Auto Assault NetDevil MMORPG Shut down on August 31, 2007.
2007 Dungeon Runners NCSoft MMORPG Shut down on January 1, 2010.
Tabula Rasa Destination Games MMORPG Shut down on February 28, 2009.
Exteel NCSoft (E&G Studios) TPS Shut down on September 1, 2010.
2008 Point Blank Zepetto FPS Shut down on July 13, 2011.
2009 Aion NCSoft (Team Aion) MMORPG
2011 Gem Keeper NCSoft Tower defense
2012 Blade & Soul NCSoft (Team Bloodlust) MMORPG
Guild Wars 2 ArenaNet MMORPG
2013 Shin Jan Ryu Mon NCSoft Japan Mahjong
2014 WildStar NCSoft (Carbine) MMORPG Shut down on November 30, 2018.
2016 Love Beat CrazyDiamond Dance/Rhythm
Lineage Red Knight NCSoft RPG
2017 Final Blade NCSoft RPG
Pro Baseball H2! NTREEV (Baseball Team) Sport Shut down in March 2024.
Master X Master NCSoft (Studio MXM) MOBA Shut down on January 31, 2018.
Lineage M NCSoft MMORPG
Aion: Legions of War NCSoft RPG Shut down on June 30, 2020.
2019 Lineage II M NCSoft (Team L2Live) RPG
2020 FUSER Harmonix Rhythm Shut down on December 19, 2022.
2021 Pro Baseball H3! NTREEV (Baseball Team) Sport Shut down in March 2024.
Trickster M NTREEV (Trickster Team) MMORPG Shut down in March 2024.
Blade & Soul 2 NCSoft (Team Bloodlust) MMORPG
Lineage W Studio W MMORPG
2024 Battle Crush NCSoft Action, brawler Shut down on November 29, 2024.
Throne and Liberty FirstSpark Games MMORPG The game is published by Amazon Games in North America, Western Europe, and Japan, while Astrum Entertainment handles publishing duties in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Russia. Amazon Games also provides publishing and support services for the PC (Steam) version in South Korea, Asia, and Southeast Asia, as well as official support for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S versions.
Blade & Soul Heroes NCSoft Strategy RPG Known as Hoyeon in Korea and Go-en in Japan. Shut down on February 19, 2026.[47]
2025 AION 2 NCSoft (Team Aion) MMORPG [48]
2027 Guild Wars 3 ArenaNet MMORPG [49]
TBA Cinder City BigFire Games MMOTPS
Time:Takers Mistil Games MMOTPS [50]
Limit Zero Breakers
  • Vic Game Studios
  • Kadokawa Games
 RPG [51]
Horizon Steel Frontiers MMORPG Under exclusive license from Sony Interactive Entertainment[52]
Astrae Oratio Dynamis One RPG
Project E FirstSpark Games MMORPG
TACTAN Ludius Games MMORPG

In addition, NCSoft is also the developer and maintainer of a variety of web-based board games in Asian markets.

References

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  1. 1 2 "Saudi Arabia's PIF ups invest in NCSoft for second largest ownership, shares rally". Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  2. ↑ "2020 earnings release". NCSoft. Archived from the original on 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  3. ↑ "NCSoft Corporate Governance". NCSoft. Archived from the original on June 5, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  4. ↑ "NCSOFT reshuffles leadership at global offices". koreatimes. 2024-08-12. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  5. ↑ "NCSoft". NCSoft (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2018-04-09. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  6. ↑ "Seven years of City of Heroes statistics". eurogamer.net. 2011-04-28. Archived from the original on 2015-07-09. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Throne and Liberty released". Yonhap News. 2024.
  8. ↑ Adams, David (2005-01-12). "City of Heroes Takes Europe". IGN. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  9. ↑ Everett, Larry (2015-09-01). "PAX Prime 2015: Guild Wars 2's free-to-play model and publishing takeover | Massively Overpowered". Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  10. ↑ "엔씨소프트의 역사" [History of NCsoft]. NCSoft (in Korean). Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  11. ↑ "Games Industry Veteran Jeffrey Anderson Joins NCSOFT West as New CEO". PR Newswire. July 28, 2021. Archived from the original on July 28, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  12. ↑ Weber, Rachel (July 8, 2011). "NCSoft in talks to acquire Ntreev Software". Gamesindustry International. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
  13. ↑ Caoili, Eric (February 17, 2012). "League of Legends and NCsoft's Ntreev acquisition, this week in Korean news". Game Developer. Archived from the original on May 21, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  14. ↑ Caoili, Eric (July 27, 2011). "NCSoft Purchases Seoul-Based Mobile Dev Hotdog Studio". Game Developer. Archived from the original on January 21, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  15. ↑ Shea, Cam (2009-05-21). "AU: Aion Is Coming". IGN. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
  16. ↑ Takahashi, Dean. "Korean game togetherness: Nexon acquires 14.7 percent of NCsoft for $688M". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 2017-07-27. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
  17. ↑ Pearson, Dan (2015-10-19). "Nexon sells shares in NCSoft, ending takeover bid". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  18. ↑ "About Us". us.ncsoft.com. Archived from the original on 2017-06-05. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  19. ↑ Byung-wook, Kim (2020-08-21). "NCSoft launches entertainment subsidiary Klap". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
  20. ↑ "UNIVERSE launches with over 4 million users, here's a guide to the new fan community platform". Bandwagon. 28 January 2021. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  21. ↑ "Saudi wealth fund buys stakes in Korea game makers". phnompenhpost.com. March 13, 2022.
  22. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (November 28, 2023). "PlayStation Makes Deal With Huge Company To Expand Beyond Console". GameSpot. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Game publishers cancel titles, cut employees as economy struggles". Korea JoongAng Daily. 2024-01-18. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  24. ↑ "China approves NCsoft games". Korea JoongAng. 2024.
  25. ↑ "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  26. ↑ "NC drops 'soft' as concrete move in broader brand renewal". Korea JoongAng Daily. 2026-03-26.
  27. ↑ "엔씨소프트가 엔씨(NC)로 사명을 변경한 이유는?". Sports Chosun. 2026-04-02.
  28. ↑ Park, So-eun (2023-08-08). "[단독]엔씨소프트, '클렙' 지분 전량 매각…엔터 사업 손 뗀다". News 1 Korea (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  29. ↑ "Former NCSoft Employees Suspected of Stealing Lineage III Code". WIRED. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  30. ↑ "Chosun Ilbo article". April 26, 2007. Archived from the original on September 18, 2008.
  31. 1 2 "Worlds.com CEO: We're 'Absolutely' Going To Sue Second Life And World Of Warcraft". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2018-09-17. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
  32. ↑ "NCsoft Faces Patent Infringement Suit". WIRED. 29 December 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  33. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (2009-03-12). "Worlds.com: We've patented the world". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
  34. ↑ Krangel, Eric. "$50,000 Reward Offered For Proof Worlds.Com Patent Lawsuit Is Bogus". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  35. ↑ Voecks, K. (6 May 2009). "Richard Garriott blasts NCsoft with $24 million lawsuit". Engadget. Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  36. ↑ Kim, Tong-hyung (July 30, 2010). "Garriott wins $28 mil. in NCsoft lawsuit". Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
  37. ↑ "Garriott wins appeal in NCsoft case". RICHARD GARRIOTT v. NCSoft CORPORATION. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  38. ↑ "Save CoH movement invites NCsoft execs to play, petition passes 20,000 signatures". Engadget. September 27, 2012. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  39. ↑ Lee, Jae-lim (18 January 2024). "Game publishers cancel titles, cut employees as economy struggles". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
  40. ↑ Nam, Hyun-woo (December 1, 2024). "Game publishers cancel titles, cut employees as economy struggles". The Korea Times. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
  41. ↑ "NCSOFT Transitions to Independent Studio System with Four New Subsidiaries Approved". NCSoft. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  42. ↑ Kennedy, Victory (23 October 2024). "NCSoft suffers layoffs and cancels projects, including ultra-realistic thriller Project M". Eurogamer. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
  43. ↑ "What is Growth Strategy and Future Prospects of NCsoft Company?". PESTEL Analysis. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  44. ↑ "NCSOFT Announces Annual Financial Results for 2025". NCSoft. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  45. ↑ "NCSOFT Accelerates Global Expansion into Mobile Casual Games". NCSoft. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  46. ↑ Royce, Bree (2024-01-04). "NCsoft has officially granted a City of Heroes server license to the Homecoming crew". Massively Overpowered. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  47. ↑ "NCSOFT's Blade & Soul Heroes shutting down on February 19th". Delisted Games. 2025-12-19. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  48. ↑ Royce, Bree (2024-01-04). "NCsoft Q3 2024: NCsoft teases Aion 2 for 2025, says Throne & Liberty sales 'surpassed internal projections'". Massively Overpowered. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  49. ↑ "Guild Wars 3, Modern Evolution of the MMORPG, Announced at Summer Game Fest for PC and PlayStation 5". NC. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  50. ↑ "NCSOFT Secures Global Publishing Deals with Korean and European Development Studios". NCSoft. Retrieved 2025-11-13.
  51. ↑ "LIMIT ZERO BREAKERS Unveils Full Program for Tokyo Game Show 2025". NCSoft. Retrieved 2025-11-13.
  52. ↑ "NCSoft Unveils Horizon Steel Frontiers, A New MMORPG Set In The Horizon Universe". Retrieved 2025-11-13.
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