NCSoft's making a new MMO shooter that, snazzy graphics aside, feels like it's already 15 years old—and that might just match your freak

A still from the trailer for Cinder City, an upcoming MMO shooter by NCSoft.

(Image credit: NCSoft)

NCSoft's Cinder City (technically CINDER CITY, but our style guide forbids such a loud use of caps) has been announced, and I feel like I've either been transported back in time, or just watched a clueless time traveller step out of a portal.

Details are slim, bar a website and a trailer, but the game's X account promises it'll be "an MMO Tactical Shooter set in a dystopian world, with the megacity Seoul". Which likely means it'll be following in the footsteps of games like The Division and Warframe.

The fact that the first trailer for this thing is an NVIDIA GeForce crossover boasting about how cool all the ray-tracing and DLSS 4 is doesn't exactly give me a ton of hope. Neither do the droll, Division-esque, modern tactical shooter vibes.

You've got jetpacks, you've got RPGs to shoot down helicopters with, you've got cover shooting, you've got melee takedowns, you've got weird little anachronistic shield thingies and Crysis armour. Also, zombies are here for some reason! Can't have a tactical MMO shooter without zombies.

It feels like an amalgamation of every live-service shooter and third-person MMO out of the last 20 years, but let's be real—that might be what some people want. I won't sit here on my high, genre-savvy horse and tell you that nobody's nostalgic for The Division, or hey—here's a deep cut, remember Global Agenda? I didn't, until this trailer gave me a full Ratatouille-style sense memory of it. If Cinder City threads the needle, it might just tap into a potent vein of nostalgia.

Otherwise, NCSoft's entering into one hell of a tough market—and this trailer doesn't give a great first impression, given we know next to nothing about it. It'll need one hell of a better pitch to peel folks off their Warframes and HoYoVerses and, uh, horsegirl racing games. Cinder City plans to release in 2026.

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Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.

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