"3 Years as No.1 Throne" Is Lineage's Only Rival Lineage?

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] "Is the only enemy of Lineage Lineage itself?" NCSoft's Lineage brothers (LineageM and Lineage2M) have once again built an iron fortress.

According to NCSoft on the 8th, as of the morning, LineageM ranked 1st and Lineage2M ranked 2nd in the Google Play game revenue rankings. Netmarble's 'Seven Knights 2,' which broke the duopoly of the Lineage brothers and rose to 2nd place just three days after its release on the 18th of last month, was pushed down to 3rd place.

Since the release of LineageM in June 2017, the top spot in Google Play revenue rankings has been continuously held by the Lineage brothers for three and a half years. Although the two brothers have competed for 1st and 2nd place or temporarily lost the 2nd place, they have never lost the 1st place. They quickly reclaimed even the 2nd place. Nexon's 'The Kingdom of the Winds: Yeon' also attracted attention by ranking 2nd in revenue immediately after its release in July, but the glory did not last long. As of this day, The Kingdom of the Winds: Yeon ranks 8th in revenue.

LineageM and Lineage2M are considered NCSoft's cash cow games. NC Dinos player Yang Eui-ji, owned by NCSoft, even said, "Lineage is feeding us." The cumulative revenue of LineageM and Lineage2M reached 1.3 trillion KRW by the third quarter of this year. LineageM generated 617.1 billion KRW, and Lineage2M generated 682.9 billion KRW in revenue. NCSoft transferred the core elements and operation methods of the Lineage PC game directly to the mobile environment. It is evaluated that they are continuing their success in mobile while inheriting the prestige of Lineage, which sparked the PC game boom in the late 1990s. Thanks to the strong performance of the Lineage brothers, NCSoft is on the verge of achieving annual sales of 2 trillion KRW for the first time in its history this year.

Experts analyzed that the long-term success factor is due to the well-structured community of Lineage, such as blood alliances, which continuously absorbs new users. Professor Wi Jeong-hyun of Chung-Ang University, president of the Korea Game Society, said, "The Lineage community is a system that constantly absorbs new users like a well-organized unit, and the game itself is well designed with competition and power structures," adding, "It is a structure where those who buy probability-based items well and invest a lot of money win."

As the mobile game market is formed mainly around MMORPGs like the Lineage brothers, concerns have also been raised. An industry insider said, "As the entry barriers for new games increase, it is difficult for games of various genres to rank."