Netmarble targets N. America with first MMO strategy game ‘Iron Throne’

South Korean mobile game publishing giant Netmarble Games said Thursday that it would launch next month its first-ever mobile multiplayer strategy game “Iron Throne,” which the firm hopes will appeal to gamers worldwide, particularly in North America.

Netmarble plans to begin servicing the game -- previously presented to the public under the name “Firstborn: Kingdom Come” -- in 251 territories worldwide via the Google Play and Apple App Store. China has been excluded from the list due to local regulatory issues.

The Korean game publisher is hoping that “Iron Throne” will become a major mobile massively multiplayer online strategy game in North America, the biggest market for the genre, and become a foundation for Netmarble to continue releasing more games in this front.

“MMO strategy games are a main genre of mobile gaming, accounting for 22 percent of the global mobile game market. Given this, it’s a genre that Netmarble must target,” said Netmarble’s Vice President Lee Seung-won in a press conference in Seoul.

“Leading MMO strategy games are on the downturn, player demographics are changing while Asia’s MMO strategy game market is growing bigger. In such times of turnover, Netmarble has a chance (to succeed),” he said.

“Iron Throne” is a MMO strategy game set in the medieval age. It was developed by Seoul-based game development studio 4Plat, with aims to reap success in North America.

The company spent three years developing and perfecting “Iron Throne,” which strives to differentiate itself from existing mobile MMO strategy games with exquisite graphics and more diverse battle modes to keep users interested, according to 4Plat CEO Kang Jae-ho.

For the first time for a mobile MMO strategy game, “Iron Throne” has adopted a full 360-degree graphics system. It also offers four battle modes: survival match, 20 vs. 20 team death match, dimensions match and massive 100 vs. 100 clan war match.

The mobile game has incorporated artificial intelligence systems to act as virtual players in 20 vs. 20 matches where the full quota is not fulfilled, according to Kang.

Like typical mobile role-playing games, users are able to choose from a variety of heroes and weapons. Augmented reality technology also allows users to see their dragons flying in the sky in the real world from their smartphone.

Netmarble began receiving preregistrations for the game from Thursday. The game’s exact launch date in May has not been set.

Backed by China’s Tencent, Netmarble Games was the world’s third-largest mobile game publisher in terms of in-app sales in 2017, according to apps analytics firm App Annie. Around 54 percent of the firm’s revenue last year was generated outside of Korea.

Netmarble specializes in mobile games, releasing hit titles including “Lineage II: Revolution,” “Everybody’s Marble,” “Seven Knights” and “Marvel Future Fight” in Korea and abroad.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)