NCsoft Shuts Down Project HON

NCsoft, the South Korean MMORPG studio best known for their Lineage series, has ceased development on their Unreal Engine 4 powered mecha shooter Project HON. The announcement was made on May 15, 2015 following the release of their Q1 financial results. The game never made it to release, but the 20+ minute gameplay trailer shown off at G-Star back in 2014 sure made the game look promising. Similiar to Hawken and Titanfall, Project HON would have allowed players to fight in a variety of massive mechs on dynamic battlefields.

No clear reason was given for the game's closure, but it may have been related to a recent incident where a member of the Project HON team was arrested for embezzling funds of over $10,000 earmarked for the game's budget. Luckily, most of the staff involved in Project HON's development have been reshuffled to other upcoming NCsoft games including Lineage Eternal and Master X Master.

The biggest losers in this whole fiasco are Exteel fans. NCsoft shut down their previous third person Mech shooter on September 1, 2010. Project HON was supposed to be the spiritual successor of Exteel, but it looks like NCsoft just doesn't believe mech shooters have much of a market in South Korea.

Project HON Gameplay Trailer: