''Bless Online'' ( ko, 블레스, Beulleseu) was a

massively multiplayer online role-playing game A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

developed by Neowiz Games. The release date was May 28, 2018, for Founder's Pack purchasers and May 30 for Early Access on

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

. ''Bless Online'' uses a

free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

business model.

Gameplay

''Bless'' is set in a seamless fantasy world. The main story revolves around a decade-long war between two factions, the nation of Hieron and the nation of Unión. The game world is separated by different

climatic Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

zones. Players can choose their character's race and class, with race determining which faction they align with. Players can join PvP castle sieges, to advance their faction power. Winning sieges grants new quests, and resources. Faction and race dependent role-playing scenarios are also available for players to advance their character progress.

Characters

''Bless Online'' features humanoid races for players to choose from when creating a character. The races of Hieron are composed of the Habichts ( ko, 하비히츠, Habihicheu), the Sylvan Elves ( ko, 실반 엘프, Silban Elpeu), the wolf-like Lufus ( ko, 루푸스, Lupuseu), the Fedayin ( ko, 페 다인, Pedain), and the Mascu ( ko, 마 스쿠, Maseuku). The Unión's races consist of the Amistad ( ko, 아미 스타드, Amiseutadeu), the Aqua Elves ( ko, 아쿠아 엘프, Akua Elpeu), the catlike Pantera ( ko, 판테라, Pantela), the Iblis ( ko, 이블리스, Ibeulliseu), and the Sirens ( ko, 시렌, Silen).

Development

''Bless'' was initially announced as ''BLESS'', back in 2011. ''Bless'' was developed with

Unreal Engine 3 Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game '' Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genre ...

, a game engine by

Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, M ...

. ''Bless western version was cancelled by game publisher

Aeria Games Aeria Games, formerly known as Aeria Games and Entertainment, is an online game publisher. The corporate headquarters is in Berlin, Germany. Aeria Games was a subsidiary of ProSiebenSat.1 Media, which operates an Internet gaming portal for mas ...

in 2017, however, in response Neowiz plans to self-publish the game. In July 2017, Neowiz Games announced their ''Rebuild Project'' in order to address many game specific components. At

TwitchCon TwitchCon is a semi-annual gaming convention for the livestreaming video platform Twitch. The convention is organized by Twitch Interactive and focuses on the general culture of livestreaming and video gaming. TwitchCon also serves as an opportu ...

2017, Neowiz announced that the release date would be sometime in 2018 and that ''Bless'' will become available at

, as part of the

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...

program. Steam's early access included localized versions for English, German and Russian languages. Two mobile games based on the ''Bless'' IP were announced, one using

Unreal Engine 4 Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game ''Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genre ...

. As of October 2017, Neowiz Games was still assessing in-game monetization options. The last remaining server in Korea was shut down on November 19, 2018.

Beta testing

The first closed beta testing began in 2014 in South Korea. Since August 2017, the open beta phase of ''Bless'' is available on South Korean servers. Japanese closed beta testing began in April and proceeded in October 2017. From December 2016 until May 2017 an open beta version of the ''Bless'' client was hosted on servers located in Russia before being shut down after failing to gain traction.

Final release (United States and Europe)

''Bless Online'' released in Early Access on Steam for Founder's Pack purchasers on May 28, 2018, and Early Access on May 30, 2018. The Steam version closed on September 9, 2019, with its struggling userbase size cited as a main reason by media outlets.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://blessonline.net Fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing games Free-to-play video games Massively multiplayer online role-playing games Unreal Engine games Video games developed in South Korea Windows games Windows-only games Products and services discontinued in 2019 Inactive massively multiplayer online games