Lost Ark is coming to North America and Europe, Smilegate CEO confirms

Today is turning out to be a great day. After the announcement that Torchlight Frontiers is going to be free-to-play, we found out some info officially confirming that Lost Ark is coming to North America and Europe.

Oddly enough, this info isn't exactly new, dating from last September. While announcing the South Korean open beta release of Lost Ark, SmileGate CEO Kwon Hyuk-Bin said that the studio is now targeting “more developed countries such as North America and Europe”, leaving China out of the equation for the time being. You probably don't recall, but Lost Ark was planned to release in China through Tencent.

However, the Chinese government has a game licensing ban in place for several months now, putting the largest gaming market off-bounds for outside studios. To get the idea, Smilegate's online shooter Crossfire made over 80% of its last year revenue in China.

Perhaps having Brian Tyler composing Lost Ark's soundtrack was a premature move thinking about western territories. Tyler worked in Hollywood movies such as Avengers: Age of Ultron, Iron Man, Thor: The Dark World, The Fate of the Furious, and Crazy Rich Asians, so he has a firm grasp on western sensibilities.

So, with China's release delayed indefinitely, Smilegate is now working towards the English release. Maybe this news isn't so weird after all.

Via MMOs.com