NCsoft

NCsoft, stylized as NCSOFT, is a South Korea-based online, video and mobile game development company that has produced Lineage, City of Heroes, WildStar, Guild Wars, Aion, Blade & Soul, and Master X Master.

NCsoft was founded in March 1997 by T.J. Kim. In September 1998, NCsoft launched its first game Lineage. In April 2001 the company created a US subsidiary under the name NC Interactive (based in Austin, Texas, and would later become NCsoft West) after acquiring Destination Games, headed by Richard Garriott and Robert Garriott. In 2004, NCsoft launched two MMORPGs, Lineage II and City of Heroes.

The company formed NCsoft Europe in July 2004 as a wholly owned subsidiary with its main office in Brighton, England. They brought City of Heroes to several European countries on February 4, 2005, and established Lineage II service for Europe as well.

On April 26, 2005, the company launched Guild Wars, a MMORPG with no subscription model. Expansions followed: Guild Wars Factions, Guild Wars Nightfall and Guild Wars Eye of the North. On April 24, 2009, NCsoft announced that Guild Wars had sold more than six million units. On August 28, 2012, NCSOFT launched Guild Wars 2.

On September 10, 2008, NCsoft announced the formation of NCsoft West, a subsidiary which manages NCsoft’s other western organizations, and established its headquarters for that subsidiary in Seattle, Washington.

On July 8, 2011, NCsoft started talks with SK Telecom to acquire Ntreev Soft Co., LtdThe talks were expected to last less than a month, but it took seven for NCsoft to complete the acquisition; purchasing 76% of Ntreev’s stock for ₩108 billion (US$96.7 million) on February 15, 2012.

In 2011, NCsoft purchased Hotdog Studio, a mobile game studio based in Seoul that produces phone and smartphone titles such as Dark Shrine