Fans have been waiting patiently for months for any news regarding the release date for Blade and Soul. So we wanted to take a quick look at where we stand on the issue.
In September of 2012 a post on the US version of the Blade and Soul website confirmed that a Western expansion was planned for Blade and Soul, and that the wildly successful Asian martial arts fantasy MMO would hope to reach the same popularity in Western markets. Of course no date was given, but it was said that NCSOFT was already aggressively tailoring the title for Western players to ensure that it maintains its rich Asian martial arts theme. The key word there is ‘already’, meaning they are working on it now.
Fast forward to October 19th of the same year and another post introduces the localization team for Blade and Soul, which draws on the talents of a number of industry veterans to tackle to challenges of bringing the game to Western audiences. Blade and Soul is already a complete game, so what NCSOFT West must do is ensure that many of the games subtle points translate both linguistically and culturally.
Now we head to December 5th of 2012, with a State of the Game update on the US Blade and Soul website which is meant to keep us up to speed with what’s happening with the game. The post talks about some of the issues with Westernizing the game, like gameplay styles differing greatly between cultures, meaning that players in Korea might think of the game as fun and balanced, but it might not be so well received in Europe and America. NCSOFT again states they are committed to doing it right, iwthout sacrificing ay of the elements that make Blade and Soul as popular as it is in Korea.
But now it’s been over a year without any updates at all! Western fans are obviously none too pleased by the basic silence from the developer and publisher. With many saying that by the time its released it will be forgotten by newer and more improved MMOs, while some are swearing off any interest in the game what-so-ever.
Source: Blade and Soul’s US News Site