Guild Wars publisher and Lineage developer NCsoft has cut 21 employees from its Austin, Texas development studio, the company revealed today.

According to a Kotaku report, the developer explained that the layoffs were related to positions focused on unannounced and prototype products.

"We are announcing that 21 positions are being eliminated in the Austin office of NCsoft in the area of product development," an NCsoft spokesperson said. "Primarily this is related to products which we have not previously announced and were in prototype phases."

"We are also cutting some positions on the Dungeon Runners team after deciding not to port the client to other platforms at this time," added the representative... Read more

When Ultima and Tabula Rasa creator Richard Garriott ventures into space this fall, he will deposit a "digital time capsule" on the International Space Station that packs the digital DNA of certain Tabula Rasa (PC) subscribers.

Dubbed Operation Immortality by publisher NCsoft, the capsule will contain "the digitized DNA of select video game players and space aficionados" along with copies of all active Tabula Rasa characters as of September 2, 2008.

"I've been able to do some very exciting things in the games business, but nothing of this magnitude," said Garriott. "A select few will have their DNA digitized and sent. And, theoretically, if anything happens to the human race, it could be their DNA that is used to resurrect humanity."

The promotional campaign extends to those who don't play Tabula Rasa, with OperationImmortality.com hosting online polls regarding humanity's greatest achievements, though only active Rasa players will have the "chance" of their DNA being sequenced, digitized and sent into space for all .

MMO developer NCsoft today announced a new partnership with Double Fusion to supply in-game advertising for City of Heroes, releasing several images of the game world before and after ad integration.

The companies say that the real world ads will lend a sense of realism to the super-powered world of City of Heroes, with players able to opt out of the advertising if they so choose. Additionally, NCsoft plans to make use of the technology to display player-created content within the game.

"We are pleased to work with Double Fusion on City of Heroes," said NCsoft general manager Brian Clayton. "[T]hey have demonstrated sensitivity to the needs of our community and fundamentally understand how advertising can bring value to the players when executed gracefully, and in the appropriate context."

NCsoft acquired complete ownership of City of Heroes last year from original developer Cryptic Studios.

Double Fusion recently signed a similar deal with developer Gearbox Software, which plans to use Double Fusion's technology to bring in-game advertising to an undisclosed roster of upcoming titles.

Developer and publishing house NCsoft plans to utilize Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 in two upcoming MMOs, the company announced today.

The company originally licensed the UE3 middleware back in 2005. NCsoft said that the engine will be used to develop two unannounced and "top-tier" MMO titles, but did not specify further what those titles might be.

The company is no stranger to Epic's middleware, having previously utilized the company's Unreal Engine 2 in the development of Lineage 2 (PC) in 2004. The heavily-licensed Unreal Engine 3 is currently at work in projects at 2K Games, THQ, Konami, Square Enix and numerous others.

NCsoft is currently working on a new Lineage (PC) title, and late last year announced the acquisition of the City of Heroes property from series creator Cryptic Studios.

In its fiscal year 2007 report released today, Korea-based publisher NCSoft announced that the company brought in a net profit of $48.4 million in the last calendar year.

The November release of Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa (PC) recorded $5.4 million in sales, representing only 6% of total earnings for the calendar year. Meanwhile, NCSoft noted that sustained sales of its PC MMOs Lineage and Lineage II were responsible for an 11% boost in earnings during the holiday season, accounting for 76% of the company's total sales.

NCSoft raised its 2008 profit forecasts to $60-69 million to reflect an expected 6-15% year to year increase in sales. Last month, the company cancelled Spacetime Studios' upcoming MMO Blackstar, citing a reevaluation of the multiplayer gaming market.

There's an article format interview with Chris Chung on MMORPG.com, asking the new NCSoft president about his company's various MMO products.

A new MMO in development by Spacetime Studios may now never make it off the launch pad, following news that publisher NCSoft has cancelled the project.

Titled Blackstar, the game was to be a space-action MMO, allowing players to fly spaceships to "exotic locations" and then dock their avatars on planets or stations for traditional RPG play.

As a result of the cancellation, Spacetime announced that it has been forced to shed 12 employees from its staff in an effort to stay afloat.

"We want to stress that there are no bad feelings with NCSoft," reads a post by the company on its website. "There is a tremendous amount of mutual... Read more

City of Heroes Sold on WarCry offers an interview with NCSoft's Brian Clayton, who is asked about the decision to buy out Cryptic Studios' part of the IP ownership (story), and what NCSoft plans to do with the game.

MMO publisher NCsoft has obtained complete ownership of the City of Heroes intellectual property for an undisclosed sum and is opening a new development studio staffed by members of the game's original team in Mountain View, CA.

The company's plans for the superhero PC MMO include new expansions and sequels. NCsoft claims it acquired "key members" of the City of Heroes team--including lead designer Matt Miller, lead engineer Aaron Brady, and lead artist Ken Morse--from Cryptic Studios, which originally developed the game and previously split ownership of the IP with NCsoft. All members of the City of Heroes team have been offered jobs at NCsoft, according to Cryptic's FAQ on the sale.

"We're happy to announce that NCsoft has acquired full ownership of the City of Heroes IP," said NCsoft executive producer and new studio manager Brian Clayton. "Our plans are clear. We are now in a position to make a major reinvestment in the City of Heroes product line."

The new office represents the second studio NCsoft has formally... Read more

Industry print publication Game Developer has released its 2007 list of Top 20 Publishers in video games, and the top slot has changed for the first time in the history of the annual feature, with third-party industry heavyweight Electronic Arts ceding the #1 crown to first-party manufacturer Nintendo. The title is the latest in a seemingly unending string of good news for the Kyoto-based hardware giant, which recently saw its stock hit a record high.

EA moved down to #2, with Activision coming in at #3, Ubisoft moving up to #4, and THQ rounding out the top five. Take-Two Interactive and Sega of America took the next two slots. As far as the other first-party publishers, Sony Computer Entertainment came in at #8, one slot above Microsoft Game Studios. Fans of niche Japanese gaming will be pleased to know that Atlus has joined the Top 20 for the first time at #18, while ailing Atari has dropped off.

Game Developer publisher CMP Game Group compiled its list by considering detailed responses from over 300 members of the game publishing community, as well as sales and review data, release portfolios, and employee pay.

A full list of the Top 20 Publishers follows. The full 100-page report is available for purchase from Game Developer Research, with a summary in the October 2007 issue of Game Developer. ... Read more

MMO publisher and developer NCsoft has officially unveiled Carbine Studios, the company's latest addition to its stable of development teams. Initially founded in 2005 and located in Aliso Viejo, CA, Carbine is working on an unnanounced MMO it vows will "break new ground in massively multiplayer gaming."

In addition to publishing Cryptic Studios' super-powered PC MMO City of Heroes, NCsoft is known in the MMO community for the Guild Wars series developed by its ArenaNet subsidiary and the internally developed Lineage franchise, which has proven to be a massive success in Korea. It recently partnered with Sony to bring titles to PlayStation 3 and PSP.

Among the new studio's staff are a number of industry veterans, with World of Warcraft lead developer and Carbine co-founder Kevin Beardlsee serving as the company's vice president of design.

Other notable talent at the studio include 16 other ex-Blizzard employees, Tim Cain--co-founder of Vampire: The Masquerade--Bloodlines (PC) developer Troika Games and former producer, lead programmer, and designer on Black Isle's cult classic PC RPG Fallout--and Jeffery Gaffney, who co-founded ... Read more

At an Austin press event last night, NCSoft announced that the sci-fi MMORPG Tabula Rasa will launch October 19. People who pre-order will get to play the game three days earlier, on October 16.

Originally announced back in 2001, the Richard Garriott-helmed project underwent a radical change several years into development, transforming from a fantasy role playing game to the combat-focused sci-fi game it is today.

For more on Tabula Rasa, check out our recent preview.

XMLGames, the company founded by former NCSoft executive and Lineage designer Jake Song, has licensed Crytek's CryEngine 2 for use in its new MMORPG. Song sung the engine's praises in a release today, highlighting the reasons behind the choice.

"We previously had a lot of success using their ground breaking CryENGINE 1 technology while at NCSoft for AION," explained Song. "After seeing what it could do in the early previews of Crysis, we just knew we wanted to continue to work with their great new tools and engine.

"Not only are the graphics unquestionably the best available," he continued, "but the unprecedented ability it offers to physically interact with the environment will allow us to create entirely new modes of gameplay which up to now we could only dream of implementing."

An MMORPG with advanced physics? Griefers take note.

Sony today announced a deal with online games publisher and developer NCsoft during its E3 press conference that will have NCsoft delivering a number of online games to Sony's PlayStation Network, for both the PS3 and PSP platforms.

Specific titles were not announced, and the scope of the deal was limited to "several games." NCsoft officials did note that existing properties will be ported to the systems, in addition to original IP developed specifically for the platforms.

"[The PS3] a truly versatile online platform that gives NCsoft the potential to create massively multiplayer environments," said NCsoft Europe CEO Geoff Heath. "Together with the Internet-enabled PSP, we're confident that SCEI and NCsoft can develop unique and compelling online experiences that will be found on no other platform."

WarCr and FiringSquad both have comments NetDevil CEO Scott Brown about Auto Assault, the company's vehicular MMORPG which is shutting down soon. NetDevil has tried to acquire the game from publisher NCSoft, but the two companies have not been able to reach an agreement.

NCSoft Answers Some Questions on WarCry offers some info NCSoft's David Swofford about the recently announced closing of Auto Assault. There's also a retrospective on GameZone.

How do you keep a successful genre booming with a finite amount of comic book material? License a franchise that is based on the creation of thousands of characters.

Producer Tom DeSanto (Transformers, X-Men 2) has acquired the film rights to NCSoft and Cryptic Studio's MMORPG City of Heroes. DeSanto's long-term plan reportedly includes a live-action feature film, with the series eventually transitioning to television.

The franchise has already been fleshed out by several City of ... Read more

Over at 2404 you can find a Q&A on Dungeon Runners, NCSoft's upcoming free to play online action RPG. Topics include backstory, player types and abilities, weapons, regular updates, and leveling.

In development at NCSoft is Dungeon Runners, another free MMO from the same publisher responsible for Guild Wars. What will set Dungeon Runners apart from its older brother, let alone the masses of other similar titles? I spoke with Stephen Nichols, the game's lead programmer, to find out more.

The core game is free. You can kill monsters, gain levels and grab as much loot as you can carry without ever paying a dime. However, there are some perks to being a member (which only costs $4.99 a month). As a member, you have access to the in-game bank. This bank gives you a place to store all of the loot that you may want to save for later use. Members can also use special healing and mana potions. These members-only potions are more powerful than the free versions and can be put in stacks of five. The free potions cannot stack. This saves tons of inventory space to hold more loot! Finally, only members can access the best qualities of loot. Sure, free players can use some pretty decent stuff, but the members get the best of the best. Their loot looks better and has better stats. Indeed, if you like loot, be a member.

NCSoft has issued this press release, officially announcing the development of Guild Wars 2 and the Guild Wars expansion pack Eye of the North. The press release pretty much confirms what showed up online last week. Here's a bit on Eye of the North, which will require either Prophecies, Factions, or Nightfall to run

And for those looking even further down the road at Guild Wars 2, Guild Wars: Eye of the North will provide a Hall of Monuments where players' accomplishments are memorialized and eventually inherited by their Guild Wars 2 characters, unlocking exclusive items and bonuses in Guild Wars 2.
"It's the payoff we hope players will appreciate as we continue to build on the Guild Wars franchise," said Strain. "We're excited to announce these two new products and we want players to know that Guild Wars has an extremely exciting future in the months and years ahead."

We have six Eye of the North screenshots, and the Guild Wars 2 logo if that's really exciting to you.