NCsoft Prez Chris Chung talks shop with GI and 1UP
Game Informer and 1UP both recently had the privilege of sitting down with NCSoft President Chris Chung to talk about what direction he plans to take the company in 2008. Some of the things that Chung spoke about (and there was much overlap between the two interviews) were reminiscent of the comments that Richard Garriott made in his speech at George Washington University late last year. Garriott had talked about how NCsoft was looking to make their stable of MMOs more integrated with one another so that as players tire of one game and move onto another (a phenomenon referred to as "churn" within the industry), they can ensure that it will be another of their products.
He also spoke briefly about NCsoft's current approach to console games, and he sounded considerably more tentative on the subject than we had originally been led to believe. He was complimentary of Sony's network model, and stated that he believed it was more in line with their policies than the competition. If we had to speculate, this would seem to indicate that Microsoft's Xbox Live service, which not only requires propriety features be included but also requires a subscription fee, was not their cup of tea. 1UP was more direct about this line of questioning, going so far as to ask out-right if City of Heroes was making its way to consoles. Chung refused to give a direct answer, but he didn't deny anything either, which is intriguing. It's an interesting interview, and sheds the NCsoft President (who only officially stepped into the role two weeks ago) in a favorable light.
