Project TL Release Date: Closed Beta, 2020 Release Date, Business Model

So I’ve seen countless news websites and various MMO-related Youtube channels mention Project TL recently.
I’ve done several videos on the game over the last year – I was pretty much the only person talking it. I’ll admit, I began to feel a little lonely in the genre. Like I was the only one that even remembered the game existed.
But why are people beginning to talk about it now? Has there been a new information dump – an announcement that would bring the game to everyone’s attention? Actually, kind of!

See, back in July I did a video where I addressed the lack of information concerning the game.
It had been so long since we’d received any form of update from NCSoft after they had opted to rebrand the game from Lineage: Eternal and Project TL was beginning to drift into people’s memory, especially when other titles like Lost Ark, Blue Protocol and even the upcoming GRAN SAGA were receiving much more regular updates.
However, as I stated back at the end of December, NCSoft was required to supply their quarterly financial report to investors and when they did, they revealed that they were still hard at work on Project TL and that it was actually much closer to releasing than we had all thought.
More specifically, while NCSoft had no intention of releasing the game in 2020, they did very much plan on having a publicly accessible Closed Beta during 2020.
Yes – back in December 2019, they had stated that there was an expected Closed Beta planned for 2020, and then recently they’ve went on to elaborate a little more on that.

You guys know that it’s my duty – my solemn oath to make sure you’re all kept up to date with every new bit of information regarding the plethora of MMOs all in development, so it is with that knowledge, with that responsibility that I reveal the following: NCSoft reaffirmed last years statement that they had plans for a test of sorts this year.
They didn’t confirm whether the test would still be, specifically a Closed Beta test, but they did claim it would be a “test phase,” and if everything went along according to their expectations, they would announce a console port.
Yeah, no joke. Project TL, initially Lineage: Eternal was going to be a PC exclusive title, just like how Lost Ark is.
However, NCSoft confirmed not only are they still on track to release a test phase during 2020, but they also went on to state that they would have information next year regarding the actual, full release onto both PC and consoles.

They did apologize for the lack of information – the lack of communication pertaining to the game and its development process. Honestly, I still find it unusual that there’s so little information publicly available regarding the game.
Gameplay? Not really. New trailers after their initial announcement? Nope. Do we even have a confirmed list of exactly what the updates target? Not at all. This is definitely an interesting way to go about hyping up your game’s release.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been excited for the game – more so than I was ever excited for Lost Ark. When people were hyping Lost Ark as the “next big MMORPG,” I was sitting here going “A PC sequel to the Lineage franchise? Yes, please!”

Speaking of, while a lot of us are sitting here excited, I’m well aware some of you are unaware of what Project TL even is.
Other than initially being the main competition to Lost Ark, Project TL is an upcoming South Korean isometric MMORPG from NCSoft. Or, at least at the time it was an isometric MMO.
With all of the overhauls, who knows, it might be a completely different game by the time it actually releases later this year.
Supposedly, the game is completely open-world, features a selection of varying classes to choose between – I’m not sure if the classes will be gender locked.
I know it’s a South Korean game and they have an unbelievable obsession with having gender locks in place but hopefully if NCSoft have plans of releasing the game outside of South Korea, they understand we Westerners aren’t very fond of it.
The game will be completely free-to-play, much like Lost Ark and the other Lineage games in the franchise.
This will be launching into a test phase later this year, but that does not in any way mean the game will also be launching this year. As they opted to not include the type of test – Alpha or Beta, we’ve no idea exactly how far along through development the game actually is.
The test phase will likely be for South Korea only, and Westerners will be IP blocked from accessing it, much like we have been for every South Korean title, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be able to access it.
If you use a VPN – I myself use ExitLag personally, then you can definitely get around IP blocks like this and sign up for the Beta test in advance.
Otherwise, you’ll have to wait like the rest of us. But please, don’t be of the impression that the game is launching this year. While the Alpha or Beta test will be launching this year, the official Project TL title likely won’t release until 2021.

And there we have it.
All of this excitement for the game is over NCSoft reaffirming their intentions to release the game into a playable form later this year.
Do note that NCSoft also confirmed in December 2019 that they would be holding a “Closed Beta some time during the first half of 2020.”
And while there could be any number of reasons why that didn’t pan out, their guesstimates aren’t nearly as set-in-stone as they might have you believe.
So while they definitely have plans for a testing phase later this year, I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high. Setbacks happen, and with so many developers working from home right now, it’s safe to say schedules are definitely a little out of whack and are definitely more difficult to maintain.
But if things to go as they plan, then more power to them. I’m still very excited for the game – and knowing that progress is still continuing to move along is enough for me.
By the time it finally releases it might be an entirely different game, perhaps, but all we can do is wait and see.
Like always, I’ll keep you all updated with any future info pertaining to Project TL.