NCsoft Unveils Dungeon Runners

NCsoft issued a press release this morning officially announcing the launch of their free-to-play massively multiplayer action RPG, Dungeon Runners.

NCsoft Unveils Dungeon Runners Game With A Free-to-Download and Play Business Model

AUSTIN, Texas, May 29, 2007 NCsoft® North America announced it has opened to the public its first free-to-download and play game, Dungeon Runners™, as the company continues to expand its online entertainment offerings. Dungeon Runners is an online, multiplayer role playing game in a fast-paced sword-and-shield setting where defeating monsters and evil enemies results in piles of loot and treasure.

Dungeon Runners, currently available strictly via free digital download, has a play-for-free tier where players can access large chunks of the game’s content, and a (membership level) for $4.99 per month where players are given, among other things, log-in queue priority and access to the most powerful items, weapons and armor. Membership status also includes bank storage for up to 220 loot items and the ability to stack potions in one slot to save room for even more loot.

In Dungeon Runners, there are a variety of character archetypes to choose from including fighter, mage and ranger in a classless RPG system where players are not locked into skills that are usually associated with their specific archetype.

Dungeon Runners focuses mainly on action and battles with limited death penalties and endless gold, weapons, armor and magic items available to claim after defeating hordes of monsters. The game also features a lighter side, with subtle and not-so-subtle humor sprinkled throughout the game including names of many items in the game. For example, one particularly dangerous sword is called (Shifty’s Crystal Sword of the Hypersonic Monkey) and a very helpful magic item called the (Pulsating Dragon Eye Amulet of the Thorny Donkey.)

(Dungeon Runners is a lot of fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously. But the game will take players into an action packed-adventure, where they blaze through a maze of dungeons, face fierce monsters and formidable opponents to become a hero,) said Stephen Nichols, NCsoft’s producer and lead programmer for Dungeon Runners. (Regardless if a player pays to be a member or plays for free, Dungeon Runners will deliver more than 200 hours of game play and a continually growing number of missions and quests. The game is also designed to appeal to gamers who have limited time to give to a game, but it will have the content to keep players adventuring for hours at a time.)

While NCsoft presents Dungeon Runners as a scaled down version of its other online games, Dungeon Runners is far superior to other (free with membership) type games due to the high standards NCsoft’s development team applies to all the products it creates, regardless of business model.

(Dungeon Runners is a bold leap into a new business model for NCsoft and it is taking us into a new direction in terms of the kind of games we can provide our customers,) said Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft North America. (There are plenty of other ‘˜free’ games available for online RPG fans, but none that packs as many features as Dungeon Runners has or comes with the NCsoft stamp of quality. We expect that players will receive this game warmly because it is fast, fun and free. It is hard to beat that deal.)

Dungeon Runners is available to download and play for free at www.dungeonrunners.com/join.html.

Moreover, Dungeon Runners launched with an exclusive promotion on FilePlanet.com featuring bonus content for FilePlanet readers and subscribers. Details can be found at http://www.fileplanet.com.

To find out more please visit the Dungeon Runners web site at: www.dungeonrunners.com.

The game is rated Teen by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.

About NCsoft
NCsoft North America is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation. NCsoft, with its own development and publishing offices in Texas and California, also works with other NCsoft subsidiaries and third party developers throughout North America to develop and publish innovative online entertainment software products. The company has successfully launched multiple online titles in the last three years and continues to support its franchises that include Lineage®/Lineage II, City of Heroes®/City of Villains®, Guild Wars®/Guild Wars Factions™/Guild Wars Nightfall™ and Auto Assault®. More information about NCsoft can be found at http://www.PlayNC.com.