Lineage to go mobile next year

Lineage, considered as one of the best Korean PC online games, will come back in the mobile world.

NCSoft, the producer of Lineage, held a press conference on Wednesday in CGV Cheongdam Cinecity, Seoul, to mark the 17th anniversary of the game and to demonstrate two of their new games.

"When Lineage first came out, nobody knew that it was going to be loved for such a long time. And, here we are, celebrating the 17th anniversary. In the first half of 2016, Lineage fans will meet a completely new Lineage in their mobile phone," NCSoft CEO Kim Taek-jin stated.

The titles of the new games are "Project L" and "Project RK." The former, which is basically a mobile version of Lineage, will be tested in the first half of next year. Project RK adopts a new concept where original characters turn into cute SD characters, while Project L is going to have all features of Lineage.

CEO Kim explained that their goal is not about mere transition from PC to mobile, but diversification of ways to enjoy Lineage such as web cartoons and movies using storylines and characters of the game.

"In 2016, a mobile era will come where all contents are available for mobile devices," Kim said. "We hope fans of Lineage will enjoy not only the game, but also web cartoons, movies, animations, and toys that we are going to make from the game."

In the meantime, NCSoft has announced that it will start repurchasing 680,000 treasury stocks that is worth about 150 billion won (126.9 million U.S. dollars) from December 10 until March 9 next year. The company made it official that the dividend for one ordinary share would be 2,747 won (2.32 dollars).

dong@donga.com