South Korean online game giant NCSoft Corp. will officially launch its latest mobile game Lineage M on June 21, the company announced on Tuesday.

Lineage M is a sequel of Lineage, medieval fantasy and online role-playing game (MMORPG) launched in September 1998 that has been enjoying immense popularity ever since.

Lineage M pre-orders already topped 4 million and the number of pre-orders is expected to exceed 5 million by the time of its official launch on 17th May, the largest in the mobile game industry’s history, said an NCSoft official during the Lineage M showcase held in Seoul on Tuesday. Its rival Netmarble Games Corp. secured nearly 3.4 million pre-orders for Lineage 2: Revolution, Lineage’s another sequel, until its official launch in December last year and had raked in 200 billion ($178.8 million) in sales in one month since the release.

All those who placed pre-orders for Lineage M will be able to create virtual characters with roles defined by mobile game players from the midnight on June 17 and start playing the game on June 21. The Lineage M game is free to play, but its users can buy and sell game items like armors and shields to upgrade the virtual player.

Its creator NCSoft is confident that the new game would become a big hit, reviving the success of its original Lineage. “(We) made it like Lineage and service it like NCSoft,” said Kim Taek-hun, executive vice president of NCSoft.

By Seo Dong-cheol

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]