Two blockbuster online games ― “Blade and Soul” and “Diablo 3” ― are coming to Seoul in the first half of this year, with both of them scheduled to go through closed beta testing Wednesday.

Blizzard Entertainment Korea announced Monday that it would begin its closed beta testing of its latest version of the popular action role-playing online game “Diablo 3” on April 25. Game director Jay Wilson will also hold a press conference at a hotel in southern Seoul Tuesday.

The company plans to unveil the most recent version of “Diablo” in Seoul on May 15, claiming that the online game will be sold in large supermarket chains like Lotte Mart, Homeplus and E-mart as well as online shopping sites like 11st Street, Auction and G-market at 55,000 won (about $48).

Local big name NCSoft is also expected to have “Blade and Soul,” its massively multiplayer online role playing game go head-to-head with “Diablo 3” as its pre-closed beta testing will be organized on the same day as “Diablo.”

“We haven’t pinned down the release date as of now, but the new online game is scheduled to be unveiled in the first half of this year,” said an NCSoft official. “We also included contents that could win the hearts of females despite the fact that one would naturally think of blades and swords in a MMORPG game.”

After pre-testing its game for two weeks, “Blade and Soul” will hold its third closed beta test on May 9, its official said.

Other online games like Nexon’s new shooting game “Project Reload” will go forward with its second testing by the first half of this year and Hangame’s soccer title “Winning Eleven Online” will begin its first closed beta testing as it gets ready for launch this year, according to their companies’ officials.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)