Bluehole Studio, creating the next flagship MMORPG “Tera”

Bluehole Studio is a Korean MMORPG developer founded in March 2007 by former members of NCsoft’s Lineage II development team. Last week Bluehole officially unveiled its blockbuster MMORPG “TERA” at “Hangame Invitational 2009“, which has been planned to launch its closed beta test in the first half of 2009 in South Korea.

“TERA” has been planned and developed over almost three years, and nearly 32 billion won(roughly 27 millon dollars), including 8.5 billion won funded from Silicon Valley VCs, has been invested in it. According to Bluehole, “TERA” is differentiated from World of Warcraft or Lineage II by

“i.  Dynamic battle system                                                                                       ii.  Next generation graphics                                                                                    iii. Enhanced commodity experience”

“TERA”’s most distinguished feature from other MMORPGs is Non-Targeting battle mode. Gamers are usually pointing their mouse into a monster to hit, slash, and kill. “TERA”’s non-targeting mode, however, allows gamers to directly attack monsters without having to select monsters, which gives gamers more realistic battle environments. Some gamers say, on the other hand, the feature may cause adverse effects, saying that gamers are not familiar with the non-targeting mode so it may be too early to say “TERA” is the next flagship MMORPG. The answer to the question will be clear after the commercial launch of “TERA” in 2010.