Earlier today, we covered the announcement of Bless Unleashed, a collaboration between Neowiz and Bandai Namco that will see a version of Bless on Xbox One. The press blurb said the game is built with “hardcore MMO gamers in mind” and both PvE and PvP, but the studio told MOP that it’s not a direct port; instead, it’s a “whole new game, built from the ground up in Unreal 4” for console – which means a “new story, new combat, new content” and so forth.
Confusion set in across the community; after all, Bless Online for PC already has considerable issues it’s still working through in early access beta. Consequently, Neowiz has this afternoon penned an FAQ to try to mop up the befuddlement. For starters, the studio promises the console version won’t take focus away from PC, as they’re being built by two different dev teams. Moreover, Neowiz is also not handling publishing for the console version – that’s what Bandai Namco is for. The devs also stress that this console edition is a separate game and will launch in 2019.
“Every aspect, from the story to the combat, to the skill progression has been carefully crafted to portray a new console MMORPG experience. Bless Online and Bless Unleashed are completely different games, sharing a similar art style and existing in the same game world. More details on Bless Unleashed will be revealed in the coming weeks. […] Ultimately, we want the Bless IP to thrive in as many places for as many players as possible. Hence, we decided to make a new game for Xbox One owners. It retains the world and style of Bless Online, but is a completely new experience with console players in mind.”
Also worth pointing out? Neowiz says it’ll “have news for you on the launch of Bless Online on Steam in the coming weeks as well.” It’s still expected later in 2018.
