(UPDATED: It LIVES!) Unreal 4 Version Of Blade & Soul <del>Cancelled</del>, But Team Promises "New Beginning"

By Michael Byrne, Editor-in-Chief March 3, 2021

(Update 3/4/2021): "The report of my death was an exaggeration," said the Unreal 4 version of Blade & Soul. An update coming from MMOCulture announced that the June update coming to the Korean version of Blade & Soul is, in fact, the Unreal 4 version of the title, called "Taedongrok", and it will include 4 player dungeons, a difficulty system, and, of course, the upgraded performance and visuals of Unreal Engine 4. NCSoft claims that this build is even better than the closed down Frontier World server reported on in the original story, as Frontier World was the team's first attempt at using UE4 while still maintaining the Blade & Soul flare. Now the countdown to a hopeful Western release begins!

The Blade & Soul twitter account promises more information on Friday so we'll keep you up to date!

(Original Story 3/3/2021): If you were one of the few that played Blade & Soul Complete on the "Frontier World" server, then count yourself among the lucky few that will ever have seen the MMORPG with its upgraded Unreal Engine 4. MMOCulture translated an official announcement from NCSoft regarding the cancellation today with the team citing an inability to show "satisfactory results" for the free-to-play MMORPG. Even amid declining revenue reports for the title, this news likely comes as a big disappointment for fans of the game looking forward to the improved visuals and (more importantly when it comes to Blade & Soul) more stable performance.

Maybe it wasn't all bad news though as NCSoft went on to say that the game has "a new beginning" coming this June. They stop short of giving more information but my initial speculation was that a "classic" server would be coming given the relative financial success Aion's classic servers brought in for the company. That said though, the team continued by letting fans know that the June announcement would "go one step further," so maybe a classic server isn't the best guess.

Either way we'll be sure to keep you posted on this story as it develops!

Got a news tip? Contact us directly here!

In this article: ncsoft, Blade & Soul.

About the Author

Michael Byrne, Editor-in-Chief
Mike “Magicman” Byrne has been a part of the MMOBomb family for years and serves as the site’s current Editor-in-Chief. His love for MMOs and gaming in general has led him to covering games for numerous websites including Gamebreaker TV and XIV Nation where he proudly displays his fanboy flag for FFXIV:ARR.

Allwynd 6 months ago

What concerns me is that the current game running on UE3 relies on thousands of small files, which causes a lot of loading. I think they should make it so it relies on at least a hundred bigger files instead so it increases loading time. I can't imagine the developers designed their game so poorly and incompetently.