Perhaps the most perplexing decision from NCSoft is to BnS NEO Classic Divine Gems forgo launching Blade & Soul Neo on Steam. Instead,players in the West will only be able to access the game through NCSoft's proprietary launcher,Purple. While this allows the developer to retain 100% of revenue from microtransactions—avoiding platform fees from Valve—it risks alienating a significant portion of the PC player base.

For many gamers,Steam is synonymous with PC gaming. Even major publishers like Ubisoft and Electronic Arts,who initially pushed their own launchers,have returned to Steam due to the overwhelming demand from the player community. Purple,by comparison,remains virtually unknown in Western markets,and asking players to install yet another launcher,especially one with little reputation or established

ecosystem—may be a tough sell.

Even as someone deeply involved in the industry,I had to be reminded of Purple's existence during the press briefing. That alone speaks volumes. NC America's senior producer,Andrew Long,expressed confidence in the campaign to promote Purple,emphasizing efforts to make onboarding as smooth as possible. Still,this gamble could hinder the game's accessibility and early momentum.

A Visual and Combat Overhaul Worth Noticing

Putting distribution concerns aside,there's a lot to be excited about in Blade & Soul Neo. As someone who never played the original but remained aware of its long-standing issues—particularly after updates like Trove—I was intrigued to see how NCSoft intended to BnS Classic Divine Gems for sale modernize the game.