So let’s start with a history lesson. NCsoft originally hit the MMO world with Lineage in South Korea, which was a huge hit there. The game then got a follow-up in the form of Lineage II, which was also a success internationally, and we currently have about four dozen different forms of it playable on various different server rules and mobile versions and so forth. And so it wasn’t a huge shock when NCsoft announced Lineage 3 ages ago… but it was a shock as the game kept getting delayed, its scope and gameplay style kept changing, and then it finally launched.
Specifically, it launched as Throne and Liberty, having undergone a complete Lineage-dectomy. Yes, that game was at one point Lineage 3. And now some eagle-eyed observers on the MMORPG subreddit noticed that NCsoft has started a new team for an ambiguous “Project NL” that some gamers are hoping points to Lineage 3 once again.
One of the recruiting ads for Project NL – for an art producer on a “next-generation Lineage project” – specifically calls it a “project to create a next-generation 3D MMORPG with a high level of completion using Unreal Engine 5 with [the] Lineage IP.”
It is important to note here that at this point, NCsoft has not announced this title or stated any sort of timeline, mechanics, or even overarching plans. For that matter, after Lineage 3‘s development stretched on for years and eventually became a completely different game unrelated to its origins, it would be understandable to argue that there’s no reason to feel sure that’s not what will happen here. Moreover, NCsoft was downsized rather harshly last year, leading to the cancelation of multiple upcoming projects; it’s even possible that one of those is being retooled with a new name. All we can say is that something does appear to be in development now, so we’ll see what happens next.
