Exclusive: NCsoft's 'Aion 2' to launch in China in Q2 next year

NCsoft's massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Aion 2 is set to enter the Chinese market in the second quarter of next year.

The timeline was disclosed by Century Huatong, the parent company of Shengqu Games, which is pursuing the Chinese publishing rights for Aion 2. It marks the first time an official launch schedule for the Chinese version of the game has been publicly mentioned.

The China launch is expected to be the third regional rollout for Aion 2, following simultaneous releases in South Korea and Taiwan in November last year and a global launch last month.

Century Huatong published an investor relations activity record Tuesday disclosing plans to release the Chinese version of Aion 2 in the second quarter of next year. The statement came from Huang Yi, vice president and board secretary of Century Huatong, who outlined Shengqu Games' business outlook for next year at an investor meeting held Monday. Huang Yi said the company is targeting a second-quarter launch for Aion 2 and expects the title to support solid growth for Shengqu Games next year.

Century Huatong is the parent company of Shengqu Games, which is pursuing the Chinese publishing deal for Aion 2. Shengqu Games has been NCsoft's local partner in China for about 17 years, handling the Chinese service of the original Aion since 2009.

Aion has built a substantial user base in China, with cumulative registered users surpassing 100 million. Just four days after its service launched in 2009, the game's paying user count exceeded 1 million.

In July, NCsoft and Shengqu Games held a strategic cooperation signing ceremony in Shanghai to mark Aion 2's planned entry into China. The day before the signing ceremony, the two companies launched an official Chinese website for Aion 2 and unveiled its local service title, "Yongheng Zhi Ta 2" (Tower of Eternity 2).

At the time of the signing, neither company disclosed a specific launch schedule. The investor meeting this week marked the first time a target window — the second quarter of next year — was publicly stated.

The China launch will be the third regional rollout for Aion 2. NCsoft simultaneously released the game in South Korea and Taiwan in November last year, then expanded its service footprint in October this year with a global version covering North America, Europe, Japan and other markets.

Aion 2 is the sequel to Aion, a popular MMORPG NCsoft released in 2008. The game recorded sales of about 136.8 billion won ($102 million) in the first quarter of this year, establishing itself as a core revenue driver for NCsoft. The global version, released Oct. 5, also drew strong early interest, surpassing 400,000 peak concurrent users shortly after launch. NCsoft said it intends to build on that momentum in China to sustain overseas revenue growth.

NCsoft CEO Kim Taek-jin said at the July signing ceremony that Aion 2 "has realized the vision the original sought to achieve, at an even higher level of completion," adding, "We will do our best to show that Aion 2 can create new value in China's MMORPG market and become a work that is remembered for a long time."