South Korean video game developer NCSoft expects rosy fourth-quarter earnings following the launch of its new high-end mobile game Lineage2M.

Lineage2M’s advance sign-ups have surpassed 5 million in 32 days, setting a record as the fastest rate among every other games in the domestic market.

The previous title was held by Lineage M, at 53 days. Lineage M, also by NCSoft, had recorded 5.5 million early sign-ups, the biggest volume on record. 

NCSoft predicts Lineage2M will renew this record.

Starting Oct. 15, players can create characters prior to the service launch, meaning they can pick the character’s species or tribe, and the class or vocation, as well as christen it.

The 100 servers for character creation were fully used and closed within two hours of open, prompting NCSoft to increase the quota.

Lineage2M is a sequel of computer game Lineage 2, which launched in 2003 with unprecedented full 3D graphics. The game was awarded the President’s Accolade for its graphics technology, and was played by more than 14 million players in some 70 countries including Taiwan, Japan, the US and Europe.

The popularity of the game had leveraged the demand for advanced graphics cards in the PC market.

Lineage2M is the reinterpreted mobile version of Lineage 2.

The exact launch date is yet to be announced.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)