NCSoft Is Scrapping Lootboxes And Gacha Mechanics In Thrones And Liberty

Lootboxes and gacha mechanics have been a particularly sore point not only for the video game community but also for regulatory agencies the world over on account of their gambling nature. Thankfully, NCSoft is moving away from the controversial monetization practice, at least for Throne and Liberty.

Multiple sources confirmed that the South Korean developer and publisher won’t be including probability items in the upcoming MMORPG. Instead, the focus will be mainly on subscriptions and battle passes, allowing players to earn rewards without the randomness of lootboxes and random draws. You’ll still have to put in the effort to unlock them though.

The decision to scrap probability items was mainly influenced by feedback from the Throne and Liberty closed beta test. The developers apparently removed random draws from the playtest to see how testers would react. They then gave testers a preview of the purely cosmetic pass, which drew favorable reactions from the CBT participants.

It’s worth noting that the change has only been confirmed for the Korean version. However, considering how relatively tolerable Asian players are of gacha mechanics and lootboxes, it will more than likely also apply to the western port of the game.

Throne and Liberty is set to launch in South Korea later this year with the global release planned for sometime in 2024.