NC America has been dedicated to bridging the gap between global audiences and its titles. During GDC, we spoke extensively with CEO Jeonghee Jin, known by everyone as JJ, about the appetite American audiences have for Korean-made content. Whether it’s music, animation, manhwa, or games, right now is the perfect time for NCSoft to expand into a broad audience, and their latest release, Blade & Soul HEROES, is trying to do just that.
We spoke with the NC America CEO ahead of the game’s release about the studio and publisher’s global expansion of its titles, appealing to new and existing Blade & Soul players, and most interestingly, the new marketing strategies that JJ and her team have led by meeting K-content fans where they are—K-Con.
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If you’re unfamiliar, NC America is the United States-based publishing arm of NCSoft, serving North America, South America, and select European regions for both live-service titles and upcoming titles from NCSoft and other third-party studios. JJ isn’t just the CEO of NC America; she is also the COO of NC West and Arena Net, the studio behind the beloved Guild Wars franchise.
While our conversation focused on Blade & Soul HEROES, which launched on PC and mobile through NCSoft’s PURPLE launcher and Steam, the broader discussion led us to examine the importance of appealing to new audiences. Originally launched in Korea and Japan under the title Hoyeon in 2024, the developers have worked to integrate player feedback for this global launch.
One of the primary ways that the team behind Blade & Soul HEROES believes they’ll reach new audiences is through the game’s familiar anime aesthetic. A collectible action MMORPG, better known as a gacha game to broad audiences, Blade & Soul HEROES isn’t just joining the likes of Hoyoverse’s titles, but also the latest Persona title from SEGA Atlus. And the inspirations from the genre are very clear, as the martial arts-inspired world Blade & Soul comes to life in a visual style that JJ described as anime-inspired.
When asked about the game’s visual language and its connection to the larger franchise, JJ took time to explain. “Blade & Soul HEROES is an anime-style [game], which is also a little different from the original Blade & Soul game. I think there are so many Japanese [animation] fans who are gonna love the art style in Blade & Soul HEROES.”
“It’s not exactly following the very traditional Japanese anime art style, but still, I think it can be categorized as an anime style that’s also uniquely different from other Japanese anime games…” JJ continued, “It’s uniquely different from other games in the action MMORPG genre, and also different from the previous Blade & Soul games.”
But with so many titles in the collectible RPG space, how is Blade & Soul HEROES different? Well, according to JJ, that all comes down to combat. She explained, “The game offers a dual combat system. We [mix] real-time open world combat and turn-based team combat.”
Blade & Soul HEROES’ dual combat system gives players the option to pace the game their way.
“[I think] players actually will see a lot of differences in our gameplay styles… But still, the game is based on the Blade & Soul HEROES’ stories. And I think, you know, many [franchise] fans will find it very interesting just to follow their favorite characters from the original IP, but [also] have different stories they didn’t know [before] because the Blade & Soul HEROES’ story is set three years before the original IP started,” she said.
Still, the combat is only one element that NC America is hoping will bring new and existing players in. For those familiar with the franchise, the fact that the game focuses on established characters is a plus. The story itself centers on Yusol’s struggle and reconnecting with recognizable characters like Poharan, Yura, Namsoyoo, and Mushin. “I think people are going to figure out some [of the] hidden stories unfolding and just follow their unique history [to the franchise] and they [will] be more engaged in the gameplay through those story lines,” JJ Said.
“I think [Blade & Soul HEROES] is very different from the existing, original Blade & Soul. I’m really glad to bring more [of the franchise] to our players,” JJ said, taking the time to point out that she’s a player too. “As a player [myself], I was also a big fan of the original Blade & Soul game. It’s very beautiful and unique game based on martial arts-themed gameplay with a very good combat system. We are only expanding [the franchise] to a little different genre and a little different audience. But still, I actually wanted to see how much action we can do with this within the beautiful story and action that Blade & Soul created.”
As JJ explained, Blade & Soul HEROES is all about reaching new audiences, and a part of that is expanding what players can experience the game on. For this new title, it’s not just PC, but also mobile (Android and iOS), which expands the player base. And with cross-play and cross-save, the game encourages playing in a way that works for you.
“We actually wanted to make [the game cross-play] because there are so many different players who probably want to play this type of game on their favorite platform, and we thought Blade & Soul HEROES could be a very good fit for both PC and mobile platforms,” JJ said. “Of course, I don’t think this is an easy job to make. Any game really can offer the best experience for all different platforms, because the platforms are different, yeah, but I think somehow our dev team did a great job and made the game run really well, and also offers the best gameplay experience through the different platforms.”
She continued, “Whether it’s in a PC or mobile, I think you’re going to have a lot of fun, but there are also a lot of things we had to consider. For example, some mobile game players like autoplay, while PC players usually don’t, because it doesn’t offer the best gameplay experience on PC. We went through many rounds of focus group tests, using in a [slightly] different builds as it progressed towards the global release.”
“And [the platform] is also one of the big changes we made for the global release. So when we launched before in Korea, first we had an autoplay feature that helped a lot on the mobile side, but also not everybody likes removing autoplay and also adding it as an option,” JJ explained. “I think we made a lot of great reactions [to the feedback]. Ultimately, we really wanted to take care of more players [with] different platforms is taking care of our in a global audience.”
A global multi-platform release takes patience and planning, and NC America has focused on both.
Blade & Soul HEROES’ combat is one of its standout features and something I appreciate as an impatient player who finds turn-based RPGs a bit too slow. But how did the dev team balance real-time and turn-based combat? That was our next question for the NC America CEO. “That’s a very good question,” JJ started, taking the time to explain that the game’s designers were the best to the question, but that she would give it her best effort, outside of the dev team.
“The game actually starts as just an action MMORPG, without a turn-based mode. The turn-based mode only opens up after certain chapters [have been completed], after you make some progress. So, basically, at the begining, you will go through your journey, following the storyline and basic quest. In this open world, you can have different types of gameplay. They can play in solo play mode, and there is a party play mode. Actually, you can [fight a] dungeon raid boss, and also in both trials, you can play solo, but also play through [them in] a party.”
JJ continued, “I think the game kind of balances out things that way, just [by] giving you more options. I think you can navigate through the entire game, choosing whatever you want. So, even during the turn-based mode, it can be switched freely. “No gameplay mode is actually in effect.”
NC America has invested time in its existing players who may play Lineage II or Blade & Soul NEO. Still, player choice also makes Blade & Soul HEROES easier to enter if you haven’t played a game from the genre or franchise before. JJ and her team also believe this, and it’s why they’ve invested time in meeting new players as well as their existing community. One of the ways they did this in the lead-up to the game’s release was to host a booth at K-Con, a Korean-content convention primarily focused on K-pop, held in Los Angeles.
“We also need to tap into a bigger audience who is going to love this anime-style action. To do that, we also did outreaches through offline events like Anime Expo. Actually, we also went out there to see some of the anime fans who can actually be a good target audience for this type of game. We also did the interesting event, K-Con, a K Pop event in early August. [The convention] actually wanted to have, like a Korean PC bang booth.”
For those unfamiliar, PC bangs are South Korean gaming centers akin to internet cafes, but outfitted with powerful computers for online gaming. She added, “We were the exclusive partner for [K-Con] LA this year, and we went out there and had the PC bang-concept booth, where we also showed off Blade & Soul HEROES. We thought that these [new] players, if we’re interested in playing this type of game, especially in a Blade & Soul IP game, they would also overlap with K-Pop lovers or K-content followers.”
And JJ isn’t wrong. Taking myself as an example, as I started listening to more music from Korea and watching more Korean television series (usually labeled K-Dramas), I found myself also taking chances on new titles in the gaming space from Korea. Not to mention, some of the first Korean mobile games I played were because of my love of the manhwa Solo Leveling. And while I am just one person, as JJ explained, NC America’s K-Con activation more, it seems that there are more folks like me.
NC America is tapping into the K-Content phenomenon and meeting new players.
“We did actually gain a lot of attention from [con-goers] who are generally interested in trying out [new] K-content, whether it’s K-drama, K-movies, or even K-pop. [The PC bang] was an interesting and fun marketing activation these days, so that we [could] genuinely reach out to a bigger audience who might be interested in trying out our games, especially for Blade & Soul HEROES. We are doing these things as a selection of what we can also grow more with [other] fandoms on the internet,” JJ explained.
JJ’s explanation of K-Con hit home, and also showcased that the developer was looking to service more than just the stereotypical “gamer.” With a big-tent mentality, Blade & Soul HEROES has managed to bring in around 2 million users, which, for a mobile title, isn’t something to scoff at. But that doesn’t mean that everyone understands their strategy to reach new audiences.
“Some people were asking me, ‘Why are you guys actually going to KCON? It’s a K Pop event!’ And was like, [we] should have people who love K Pop because they might be interested in trying out games from Korea. I also think, just in Blade & Soul HEROES, just in its style and its gameplay, is [something that] so many people would love to try,” JJ said.
But the CEO was also sure to explain that reaching out to K-content fans wasn’t their only path. “This is not the main strategy. However, when we observe this cultural phenomenon, we can leverage it; we want to try it out and see how much more we can achieve and better reach the right audience for our games and heroes.”
She added, “I think we got a lot of attention, of course, from K-con. They actually loved to try out the game, and they also pre-registered for the game on site. I think we are probably interested in doing more and more of these collaboration [events] between games and other K-content, or even non-K-content too! I think there are a bunch of opportunities where we can collaborate between media and between different types of entertainment content. So I’m very excited about those opportunities in the future.”
Outside of learning how to lean into a new audience, JJ also discussed what else she and her team learned as they’ve worked on Blade & Soul HEROES. And what stood out is how well she explained the complexity of launching a cross-play title and preparing a title for multiple platforms.
“I think there are so many learnings,” JJ started. “Because Blade & Soul HEROES is the first crossplay title we are launching. We’re launching on Purple, our own PC platform, Steam, and also mobile platforms, all simultaneously. Still, there are also a lot of challenges. But I think we did a great job as a team working within the Korean team.”
She continued, “We really had to work on just a technical side as a cross-play title, just not launching on multiple platforms simultaneously, and also as an original IP-based spin-off game… We definitely want to meet [fan] expectations. But I know things don’t always go as well as we wish. This [launch] is more like a test for myself and for my team, whether all these ideas we came up with to make our players happy actually work the way we want them to.”
Having just released their first update on September 30th, Blade & Soul HEROES is already expanding. The new update introduced an expanded new region called the Scorching Sands. Additionally, the update also increases the character max level cap from 30 to 40 and adds a new Field Boss, Stalker Jiangshi. With only a week under their belt NC America has more time to develop its audience, but with continuous support and the dedication to reaching out to new potential players just may be the right choice.
Blade & Soul HEROES is available now on PC via Purple and Steam, Android, and iOS.
