Game of Thrones: Kingsroad launches in Asia on May 14 as a story-driven single-player RPG, free of the paid gacha and forced grinding systems that its 2025 Western release was criticized for. See what changes Netmarble has made to the game.
Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Overhauled for Asia Launch
Monthly Subscription and Battle Pass Will Replace Paid Gacha
Game of Thrones: Kingsroad for Asia will be fundamentally different from the hack-and-slash gacha that launched in other regions in 2025, according to developers from Netmarble in a recent interview.
Netmarble Executive Producer Jang Hyun-il and Head of Business Moon Jun-gi sat down with Korean tech news outlet DigitalToday to discuss the changes the studio has made for Kingsroad’s Asia release. According to them, gacha has been removed entirely, and the game will remain free-to-play.
Kingsroad was criticized after its March 2025 Early Access launch for aggressive pay-to-win and pay-to-progress mechanics. Players accused the game of a punishing grind system for Momentum and Stamina—the in-game currencies required for combat strength and daily activities, respectively. This placed stronger weapons and story progression behind a paywall. Its full release in May 2025 faced similar criticisms.
In response, the game’s revenue will now come from monthly subscriptions, battle passes, and paid cosmetics, rather than in-game purchases that gatekeep plot and certain features.
Aside from removing paid gacha, the upcoming revamp will address player concerns about forced grinding, repetitive combat, and lack of open-world content. User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) have also been overhauled to accommodate player preferences.
Netmarble prioritized player concerns and long-term service to the game’s community in their revisions, according to Jang and Moon. They said to expect more active marketing for the Asia launch than the Western release.
Overhaul Brings Better Combat, Multiplayer Mode, and UI/UX
The combat system has been revised to address complaints about monotonous gameplay. Players will be able to equip three usable weapons instead of two, and switching between weapons will give gauge-based skill buffs.
Jang went into further detail about the game’s new combat system in a May 10 interview with Inven Global. He emphasized Kingsroad’s fully manual combat system, which does not offer automatic combat. However, the mobile version will provide a "combat assist mode" as the system was developed with keyboard and mouse controls in mind.
Changes to UI and UX, like camera perspective and object visibility, will also be implemented in accordance to feedback from the previous release and recent closed beta tests. Jang and Moon shared that responses from the beta tests have been positive, with over 95% of players saying they intend to play the full game.
Multiplayer mode has been expanded to include a 4-party dungeon, a 12-player field boss, a 2-player co-op dungeon, and raids. Raid mechanics will encourage players to take on different team roles to avoid everyone repetitively hacking at the enemy.
The latest video game adaptation of the popular HBO TV series follows an original character from a minor noble house during Season 4 of the show. After the grim events of the Red Wedding, which saw the death of multiple main characters, the player is tasked with restoring their family’s hometown in the North while preparing for the attack of the undead White Walkers.
Game of Thrones: Kingsroad will launch for Asia with an early-access PC release on May 14 and a grand release for mobile on May 21. The first update after the Asia release aims to launch six weeks later, with additional content for the Stormlands region and more main quests.
The overhauled version of the game will roll out for other regions after May 14. Following the update, the game will run on two separate servers, one for Asia and one for other regions. To stay up to date on the latest news about the game, check out our article below!
Sources:
No Gacha, Fully Manual Combat
: 'Game of Thrones: Kingsroad' Officially Launches May 14
Netmarble retools 'Kingsroad' for Asia ahead of PC preview and mobile launch
Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Official Release FAQ
