When it comes to NCsoft, IT images such as technology and AI come to mind. However, there is a field that reveals a surprisingly emotional aspect. The representative one is the game OST. NCsoft is known as an OST restaurant among gamers. Lineage 2 OST Call of Destiny is still so popular that cover videos often appear on YouTube. The reason NCsoft used Call of Destiny as an advertisement music when it launched Lineage 2M is because it is a music that left a deep impression so that the thought of’Oh, it’s Lineage 2’with only the song.
In fact, whenever major games have been released, NCsoft has been focusing on OST. Aion has produced 22 OSTs over the past three years by recruiting Yang dialect, one of Korea’s leading New Age composers, as a music director. About Blade & Soul, in 2016, they held a musical performance with Seo-yeon Jin as the main character in the game.
This keynote continued to the new Trickster M, which was about to be released. The music video for Trickster M OST’With your everything’, sung by solo singer Ben, recorded more than 93,000 views in two weeks on the game’s official YouTube channel. In particular, there are many opinions that they sympathize with the lyrics that seem to contain the hearts of gamers waiting for the release of the game.
How will the popular game OST restaurant operate?
OST restaurant was not born out of the ground. NCsoft created a dedicated organization in charge of game sound from 2010, 10 years ago, and currently operates the NCsoft Sound Center. Sound Center makes all the sounds that go into NCsoft games. From the OST, which can be called the signboard of the game, to the background music that conveys the atmosphere of the field to the ears, the voice actor voice that contains the emotions of the character, and the sound effects such as the sound of pulling a sword, they all produce themselves.
Currently, there are about 70 dedicated personnel at NCsoft Sound Center, and it is composed of several organizations dedicated to different fields. It is subdivided into sound design in charge of game sound effects, music design in charge of game music, media sound design in charge of music where directing is important, such as cinematic video music, and technical audio design that studies technology for sound in games. There is also a team that specializes in sound development and a team that creates content for the public with self-produced sounds.
Sound production facilities are also rare in the domestic game industry. First of all, 40 soundproof rooms for personal work were created by allocating space for 150 people to work. In addition, there is a poly studio that records sounds from various objects such as a Chinese house iron bag, manhole cover, door leaf, etc. to make game sound effects, and a 7.1.4 channel Dolby Atmos mixing room that can work with three-dimensional 3D sound like bombs spilling over your head. NCsoft is the only domestic game company that has a Dolby Atmos mixing room and a poly studio.
The results produced based on these facilities and human resources are considerable. There are more than 680 game OSTs registered on the official YouTube of NCsoft Sound Center, which has been in operation since 2018, and Bulso has more than 250 OSTs alone. Here, we have released a total of 37 game OST albums, from Lineage 2 OST released in 2006 to the bloody determination to Trickster M OST album released on January 21st. In addition to improving the quality of music, we invested a lot of music in one game so that we can read the atmosphere with our eyes and ears.
Begin to unravel game music for personal broadcast
The reason NCsoft releases music through YouTube is to allow more people to listen to OSTs that were previously only available on music sites. In addition, from last year, it began providing its own game music so that it can be used for personal broadcasting.
First of all, in July, a trust contract was signed with the Music Authors Association (hereinafter referred to as Hamjeohup), a music copyright trust management organization. Copyright trust management is to manage copyrights on behalf of the original copyright holder, and NCsoft contracted with Hamjeyo-hyup to allow the use of its own music when conducting private broadcasts dealing with its own games or making videos. NCsoft explained that it was open to use music in private broadcasts or videos for its own games, considering that it may be difficult to write music and video creation may be reduced.
Subsequently, in August, NCsoft Sound Center started to sell its own background music in the form of a sound source through the sound source platform BGM Factory. At the time of August, there were 5 albums and 50 songs, and now 86 albums and 860 songs are on the way. The purchased music has open copyright terms so that it can be used for production of NCsoft game videos.
The entire amendment to the Copyright Act, proposed in January, also contains content on online video. When creating videos, it is difficult to obtain permission to use works such as music from the copyright holder, so it is possible to use music by paying a fee through a copyright trust management organization designated by the government. From that point of view, NCsoft’s move, which has prepared an alternative to the use of personal broadcasting music since July last year, can be seen as reflecting the trend of the era of increasing online video production and viewing.