Hugely Popular MMO Blade and Soul Gets Western Release Date

Publisher NCSoft West has announced the release date of its anticipated MMO, Blade & Soul. The game will be launching in North America and Europe on January 19, 2016 at 12AM EST. Players who purchase a Founder's Pack will get a head start on January 15.

Blade & Soul was hugely successful in Asia when it first launched in 2013, reportedly hitting 1.8 million concurrent users within the year in China alone (via Engadget). By comparison, Blizzard's World of Warcraft hit one million subscribers in North America and Canada a year after its launch.

The game will feature seven classes at launch, 30 dungeons, a level cap of 45, and a 1v1 Arena. Players interested in signing up can do so at the Blade & Soul website. Alernatively, NCSoft West is also offering various paid packs for players who wish to gain access to the upcoming Closed Beta tests.

Blade & Soul is a free-to-play MMO which draws inspiration from classic Asian martial arts adventure films. It is developed by Korean studio NCSoft (Team Bloodlust), who has worked on games such as Lineage, Aion, and more recently, Guild Wars 2. NCSoft also published Carbine Studios' WildStar.