Cinder City confirms a roster of five characters, monetization model

We’ve been following the development track of NCsoft’s post-apoc shooter MMO Cinder City as far back as 2022 when it was still called Project LLL, and now it looks as if things are continuing to crystallize more thanks to details from Wccftech, including a reduction in the number of characters, firm monetization details, and what might be a change in its launch projection.

First, the devs confirmed that the game will release with a total of five selectable characters instead of the seven to nine that was suggested last year. This reduction in roster does appear to have had the benefit of some more tightly defined playstyle roles, though how much customization is available appears to be a somewhat open question. It was confirmed that multiples of the same character can play together in group content, at least.

Next is monetization: Cinder City will not go free-to-play and will instead have a box price, along with additional monetization in the form of a cosmetics shop and battle passes. Cosmetics being offered include things like character skins, weapon decorations, and little charms that can be attached to guns.

Lastly, the devs talked about its next steps following last month’s pre-alpha, with other pre-alpha tests lined up for EU, South America, and possibly Asian territories, followed by an alpha test sometime in the fourth quarter of this year and beta testing after that. This reads like the MMO’s projected 2026 release date is going to slip, but this also means the shooter will go into full launch instead of early access. Additionally, the launch will be on PC first, with consoles to come sometime later, while crossplay between platforms is undecided.

Other details shared by the devs include balancing small team co-op and shooter MMO gameplay with dungeons and field bosses respectively, some vague promises of PvP at some point, the ability to craft ammo and repair weapons at benches located around the game world, and the promise of future updates post-launch that add missions, dungeons, and narrative.

source: Wccftech