NCSoft sells over 300,000 Aion pre-orders

by Brooke Pilley Sep 15th 2009 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Interviews, News items

There's an interesting interview with Véronique Lallier -- NCSoft's managing director of publishing -- over at GamesIndustry.biz that reveals Aion has sold over 300,000 pre-orders so far. Not too shabby if you ask us. The interview also covers a lot of what's been going on over the past year with NC West, NCSoft's 'umbrella' for their western subsidiaries.

The main goal of NC West is to give the company a stronger foothold in European and North American markets. Now based out of Seattle, employees can be closer to their players and be more responsive to their needs. Stepping back from their original strategy of making casual games, the Seattle studio is also focused on making more triple-A MMOs for the West. What's on the horizon for NCSoft? Apparently, we can expect to hear more about Guild Wars 2 next year and their Korean studio is working on Blade & Soul, which they claim has even better graphics than Aion. There are a number of unannounced titles as well.

We should have the results of our own Aion interview with NCSoft out shortly, so make sure to stay tuned for that.

Tags: aion, blade-and-soul, gamesindustry.biz, guild-wars-2, gw2, interview, nc-west, ncsoft, seattle, veronique-lallier

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

John said on 9:39AM 9-15-2009

It's so great to see MMO's do well. I think the more that are successful the better it is for everyone. We need competition. I never get the need players have to tearing stuff down...we don't need haters...we need supporters. If you don't like a game...move on to the next...but to feel a need to tear it down on your way out...seems selfish and childish. Good for NCSoft...they've done a great job on Aion and I'm sure it'll do quite well for them. Thank God we're out of Beta's...those get so tiring.

Archipelagos said on 10:15AM 9-15-2009

I agree that it's great to see MMO's doing well. The more competition that we have in the market the better that it will be for the consumers. Having said that, healthy criticism will always have it's place. If we were to simply accept everything that we're given studios would never strive to improve the product.

tw34k said on 9:53AM 9-15-2009

Loved the beta, game looks great and hopefully they have a good team backing them and arent too afraid of the community that will be supporting them. I cant say i love the oceanic support but hopefully with some time, that might change.

All and all a good game that alot of us are looking forward to. Hoping it soars high shines on and is able to cut out a niche for itself in the market. Only time will tell though but a good start for potentially a great game.

Aganazer said on 10:01AM 9-15-2009

I wonder if they are including those 20,000+ preorder copies they gave to Tabula Rasa subscribers.

Anyway, its not a bad game but with no character development choices and forced PvP its not my bag. I never really liked the art style either. I tried my best to make an older looking character and about a 21 year old is about as close as I could get. Of course I had no problem making a teenage transvestite though so its not a complete loss. :)

Tom said on 10:28AM 9-15-2009

Funny post, Aganazer. Do the wings make you look and older and more "weathered"?

Not to steal any thunder from Aion, but I really wish NCSoft would throw a rez in Tabula Rasa's direction.... It just seems a shame to have so much game just sitting idle in the ether, as it were. : /

shinobichocobo said on 10:33AM 9-15-2009

No character customization? What do you call the stigmas and all the moonstones and godstones?

Or didn't you play long enough to actually start seeing the stigmas? Maybe you are used to WoWs talent trees, but you have to admit that most of the things you pick in the talent trees are neglible or filler for those few good things you pick

AIONS stigmas are all brand new attacks, some benefit pvp others pve and even castle seiges.

Aganazer said on 10:54AM 9-15-2009

shinobichocobo, I believe I said "character development choices". Yes that would mean something like WoW's talent trees, DDO's Feats, multiclassing, and raising attributes, CO's power, advantage, and talent choices, AoC's talent trees, etc. Aion doesn't have these. I think those kinds of permanent character development choices are a cornerstone of the RPG genre and are almost entirely missing in Aion.

Its good in a way because no one can screw up their character. Its also bad in a way because it makes every very samey. Everyone in a class has the same powers and abilities and the same base attributes.

I could go on about how Sigils are just gear and how limited the options are when it comes to manastones and godstones, but those aren't a replacement for what I am looking for anyway.

Like I said, its not a bad game, just not my bag.

Dranaerys said on 11:57AM 9-15-2009

shinobichocobo: Dont get me wrong, I love Aion and will be playing it exhaustively (over WoW even, the content of which im kinda tired of), but it is very limited as far as skill/playstyle customization goes, when you compare it to games like LotRO and WoW. you talk about getting new attacks and spells, etc with Stigma, but thats exactly what WoW's talent tree does, only instead of being limited by 8 Stigma slots, you have 3 trees to choose talents from and effectively each class has 3 very different ways to play.

Stigma system is young, theres some promise there, but its nowhere near the polish of WoW's system, even if it is trying to merge the talent and inscription systems into one.

Jack said on 3:11PM 9-15-2009

I agree with Aganazer! I do not think forced PvP got a place in games on this side of the water!

Macabre said on 3:30PM 9-15-2009

Bah, PvP is the only multiplayer worth a damn. Everything else is just feels like single-player with chat rooms.

We're certainly seem far more casual on this side of the world, but that doesn't mean PvP-centric games don't belong here.

Aion won't de-throne WoW, but whether you like it or not, it will be very successful in the west, no question.

Agar said on 10:15AM 9-15-2009

Good to know Aion is doing good :). Its not the game iam looking for but it is a nice game with alot of potential. Btw since GW2 is mentioned when the interview from PAX is going to be released?

Wisdomandlore said on 10:24AM 9-15-2009

I preordered to try the beta, but I don't see myself getting it. For all it's good points (great character/armor graphics, flying, interesting world), the game is painfully generic. Enemy designs are dull and uninspired for the most part (you spend your first 25 levels fighting birds, wargs, and evil panda bears). Combat is slow and unoriginal. Quests are nothing to write home about. Crafting is a bigger grind than anything since FFXI. And the world is basically a big, linear track funneling you to the next quest.

I didn't get to the PvPvE, so maybe the game really opens up and becomes a different experience, but I kind of doubt it.

Macabre said on 10:34AM 9-15-2009

After playing through CBT1-4, I decided to cancel my pre-order. Not a bad game by any means, quite good actually, but just so much of the same. Had I not played umpteen others just like it, I would have loved Aion.

The problem is, I haven't gotten around to actually cancelling my pre-order...

Now after firing up the client for the 5th time during OB, just to kill some time playing for free, I still haven't found anything to fill that MMORPG *slump* I'm currently in...

CO needs at *least* another 6 months in the oven. FE seemed decent enough for a niche game feature-wise, but I just couldn't get past the terrible animations and clunky controls. JGE, though originally set to launch this month, is somewhere in dev limbo. Too bad, JGE would have won this year's launch wars for sure, for me at least. Ironically, I wish CO would have taken JGE's path.

All that being said, I'm actually considering purchasing Aion just to continue killing time until something better comes along...

Damn, I'd be such a sell-out, lol... I'm so ashamed of myself.

Damn you INABAAAA!!! My gaming hobby has been ruined ever since...

(PS: If you're a fan and you understand that last part, I'd *seriously* buy you any game this season, just to show my appreciation for a fellow fallen comrade.)

Wisdomandlore said on 2:08PM 9-15-2009

I'm kind of in the same boat. After 2 and a half years, I'm tired of LOTRO and looking for my next game. CO fell short of my expectations (light on content and too much of a single-player game), and Aion is just more of the same (if not a bit behind the times). Maybe I'll just stick with DDO until SW:TOR, although I still want to see if AOC has gotten any better in the past year.

Macabre said on 2:25PM 9-15-2009

I was anxious to try the "new and improved" AoC as well, but since they no longer offer a free trial, I've avoided it.

I generally won't buy an MMO without either a trial period or beta access, and if AoC is truly better than it was at launch, I'm having trouble understanding why they wouldn't even offer a few days trial period... Pretty bonehead marketing decision if you ask me. I know they had that offer for past subscribers, but what about those who were on the fence about it, or avoided it due to the bad rep it got at launch? You would think they would want our money, too...

Oh well, their loss.

Starman said on 11:37AM 9-15-2009

Who really cares abour pre-orders ? They aren't actual subscription numbers in NA/EU so it doesn't matter. After 3-4 months of zerg vs zerg battles in the abyss and boring pve, people will be starving for something new anyways.

Dranaerys said on 12:01PM 9-15-2009

And in 4-5 months Icecrown will be out in wow, so yes, everyone will return to Wow (myself included) unless Aion's endgame is something spectacular. :) To me Aion is polished and similar enough to wow that its the perfect MMO to enjoy a vacation away from WoW, but I do have serious doubts about tis endgame content.

Bob said on 1:41PM 9-15-2009

Cataclysm is still at least 8, if not 9 months away!
Kinda optimistic about this now aren't we?

Don't forget the Icecrown patch will come AFTER the comming Onyxia patch, and if their gonna give us time to all clear Icecrown citadel, then don't expect Cataclysm out before the earliest late April next year.