"Fun Gameplay with Appealing Characters and Narrative"... NHN's "Eobiseudia" Sets for Global Launch

Global Launch at the End of This Month
Fun Through Party Composition and Combat

"We did not simply assume, 'It will do well because it's a subculture genre.' We kept checking whether the game is genuinely fun and up to standard, and we are fairly confident now."

Jung Jungjae, Head of Game Business at NHN (from left), Kim Wonju, Producer at Ring Games, and Kim Taeheon, Head of Development Business at Ring Games, posed at the 'Eobiseudia' launch briefing held on the 10th at NHN's Pangyo office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Noh Kyungjo.

Jeong Jungjae, Head of Game Business at NHN, said at the "Eobiseudia" launch briefing held on the 10th at NHN's Pangyo headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, "We want to compete based on the fun of the game and the appeal of its characters and story."

"Eobiseudia" is a subculture collectible role-playing game (RPG) that follows the journey of a Conductor, a special being who purifies dimensional rifts called "Abyss Slits." A total of 20 bishoujo (beautiful girl) characters each have their own affiliation, goals, and narrative, and four characters participate in battle at the same time. Players can switch characters during combat depending on the situation. Ahead of its global launch at the end of this month, pre-registration is underway.

The game was first released in Japan, the home of subculture, in August last year. It reached No. 1 on the App Store's free game rankings on the day of release and has since been operating stably. Kim Taehyun, Head of Development Business at Ring Games, explained, "Not only did we fix the issues and bugs we experienced at that time, but we also worked with local story-writing companies to build a unique universe."

As fun elements, the developers highlighted party composition and real-time responses through character switching on the battlefield. Kim Wonju, Producer at Ring Games, said, "The controls are not complicated. Allied characters attack automatically and can dodge enemy attacks on their own," adding, "Players will feel a strong sense of achievement and enjoyment when they pull off high-difficulty actions in certain content or in late-game content."

The "Let's Eat Together" content, where players enjoy meal dates, is also noteworthy. It focuses on building bonds by allowing players to vividly experience each character's personality and reactions. Producer Kim said, "We tried to find something that could convey a sense of closeness in everyday life," and added, "We wanted to capture the happiness you feel from a character's reaction when you give them a gift or treat them to food."

NHN made a name for itself in the subculture genre with "#Compass," which has been serviced long term in Japan since 2016. However, competing with Chinese game companies in the global market remains a challenge. On this, Jeong said, "I think it is realistically difficult to compete in terms of capital scale or character model quality," and added, "In the end, the game has to be fun, and its story and characters have to be attractive to players."

He continued, "As we prepare for the global launch, we have high expectations for the Korean market and are also watching countries such as Taiwan, which respond well to genre games," adding, "We plan to operate the game as a long-term service that we build together with users, continuously expanding the universe around its characters and narrative."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.