NCsoft Corp. today announced that Lineage will be coming to the Mac. The subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game is already available for the PC and sports more than 4 million subscribers and 330,000 concurrent users worldwide.
The company is using this week’s Macworld Conference & Expo to show of a recent build of the game developed for Mac OS X; NCsoft expects to release the product in February.
NCsoft executive producer Richard Garriott — the legendary game designer “Lord British” of Ultima fame — is executive producer at NCsoft’s Austin, Texas office. Garriott said that his company is thrilled to bring Lineage to the Mac.
“Companies that do not release Mac versions of their games these days are making a giant mistake. The Mac and its super-modern operating system, Mac OS X, provide the ultimate gaming experience and there’s a huge untapped market of gamers using this platform,” said Garriott.
Mac users play alongside their counterparts in this game, set in a fantasy domain. Players choose from four different character classes — knights, wizards, elves or royalty. They’re able to learn basic skills in safe areas in the online game world, gaining experience and increasing their skills before going out into the larger Lineage world.
In Lineage, players are encouraged form Blood Pledges, or strong alliances, with other players in the game. Once a Pledge has been formed, players can work with one another for developing common strategies to gain resources, such as overtaking a castle, for example.
Lineage features free updates that expand its online world with new lands and new creatures, as well. Users manage their accounts online and can get support, read news and trade messages with other Lineage users.
To be available for online download in February (alternately, CD’s will be available for order too), Lineage comes with a 30-day free trial. After the trial period expires, users are charged US$15 a month (multi-month discounts are available for purchase).
NCsoft is exhibiting in the Mac OS X Game Arcade on the Macworld Expo show floor.