[THE INVESTOR] Mobile megahit game “Lineage M” by Korean online game maker NCsoft is estimated to have raked in more than 1.4 trillion won (US$1.20 billion) in revenue in one year, industry insiders said on June 19.

“Lineage M,” which brings the original “Lineage” title to the mobile platform, has become the most popular app both on the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store since its launch in June 2017 in several countries, including Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

The company has not revealed the exact total revenue of Lineage M, but company reported a strong performance last year with sales of 995.3 billion won solely from its mobile games business.

CEO Kim Taek-jin earlier announced that “Lineage M” is aiming for a global launch, extending beyond certain countries and that a totally different version is under development and to be showcased sometime soon.

The new massively multiplayer online role-playing game will feature a very high degree of visual resolution yet brings back the classic game by featuring role-playing scenes. Players can create a character by choosing from a variety of classes and titles and can set up a team with other players and slay monstrous opponents in various environments.

The new global version is forecast to be first unveiled in Japan, followed by North America and China.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)