East and West are meeting again.
South Korea’s big mobile game publisher Netmarble Games said it is launching a fantasy role-playing game Evilbane in the worldwide markets later this year. It’s one more example of an Asian game company expanding to the worldwide stage as it pursues a chunk of the $30 billion mobile games market. The title is known in South Korea as Raven, where it has been No. 1 in the rankings. It will launch under the Evilbane name later this year on Android and iOS.
Netmarble set up the Evilbane website today and launched the trailer below. The mobile RPG has high-end graphics and has been in development for three years, which is rare for the industry.
Players can choose to explore the world as a balanced Human, fast-attacking Elf assassin or Vango berserker. The five game play modes include the Scenario mode, a 150-stage Adventure mode, Raid mode, 1v1 Arena mode and Guild multiplayer matches. There are thousands of different items and equipment to collect. And Netmarble promises smooth virtual controls and a console-style experience for mobile devices.
Raven launched in South Korea in March 2015. Within days, it took the No. 1 top-grossing spots on the Apple App Store and Google Play store. Evilbane is now one of the fastest-growing RPGs in Korea, with a million daily active users and 5 million downloads.
“We are excited to reveal Evilbane to the world through the game’s official homepage,” said Seungwon Lee, the president of overseas at Netmarble Games, in a statement. “Based on Evilbane’s outstanding performance as the top mobile game in Korea and Netmarble’s commitment to quality global service, mobile gamers around the world have a new action RPG to look forward to playing when it launches later this year.”
The game is developed by Netmarble’s studios, NetmarbleST and NetmarbleNeo, and will be free-to-download with optional in game purchases. Netmarble’s other big hits include Marvel Future Fight, Seven Knights, Everyone’s Marble, and Monster Training. Netmarble has more than 2,500 employees. It recently became the majority shareholder in casual game maker SGN.