{"rewrite":{"id":"r_a5c1086d9882a0b2a681db96","clusterId":"c_1aa39c8d138d015c082c5c1a","slug":"ncsoft-s-james-bae-details-cinder-city-pre-alpha-test-and-winter-alpha-plans","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"NCSoft's James Bae Details Cinder City Pre-Alpha Test And Winter Alpha Plans","summary":"NCSoft vice president James Bae discussed Cinder City in a 4Gamer interview, describing the open-world MMO tactical shooter set in a collapsed Seoul modeled on Samseong-dong and Nonhyeon-dong. A three-day pre-alpha test ran in North America in August 2026 with about 7,000 players, and an alpha test is planned for the end of the year across North America, Europe, and Asia, including Japan.","whyItMatters":"The pre-alpha gave NCSoft a large pool of North American player feedback it says it used to rework the game's difficulty design, and the planned alpha widens that feedback loop to three regions at once.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eCinder City has been in the open before: announced under the codename Project LLL in 2022, with the final title revealed in August 2025. It runs on Unreal Engine 5, with an in-house server built to drive its AI NPCs, and it spans PC and console. The August 2026 pre-alpha in North America drew about 7,000 players over three days. Bae said he watched player reactions in the game\u0026#39;s global Discord channel and pushed patches on a daily basis during that test. An alpha test is planned for around December, expanded to North America, Europe, and Asia.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"NCSoft's James Bae on Cinder City: a three-day August pre-alpha in North America drew about 7,000 players, and a wider alpha test is planned for around December across North America, Europe, and Asia, Japan included.","twitterPost":"NCSoft VP James Bae discussed Cinder City with 4Gamer. The August pre-alpha ran three days in North America with about 7,000 players. An alpha test is planned for around December across North America, Europe, and Asia, Japan included.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"NCSoft vice president James Bae gave 4Gamer a detailed account of Cinder City's pre-alpha test and what comes next. A three-day test ran in North America in August 2026 with about 7,000 players, and Bae said he watched reactions in the game's Discord channel and pushed daily patches during the period. An alpha test is planned for around December across North America, Europe, and Asia, including Japan.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"4Gamer.net\",\"url\":\"https://www.4gamer.net/games/668/G066861/20260925003/\",\"title\":\"［インタビュー］「世界のどこにもまだ存在しないゲームを作っている」--NC副社長James Bae氏に聞く「シンダーシティ」プレアルファテストの手応えと，12月に迫るアルファテスト\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":6249,"outputTokens":639,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1791120567,"createdAt":"2026-10-04T13:25:39.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-10-04T13:28:22.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T13:28:22.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_1aa39c8d138d015c082c5c1a","canonicalTitle":"［インタビュー］「世界のどこにもまだ存在しないゲームを作っている」――NC副社長James Bae氏に聞く「シンダーシティ」プレアルファテストの手応えと，12月に迫るアルファテスト","representativeArticleId":"a_923ba3deca4011699417bd05","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"Cinder City\"],\"studios\":[\"NCSoft\"],\"people\":[\"James Bae\"],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-10-01T22:45:00.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-10-01T22:45:00.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T13:28:20.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"4Gamer.net","url":"https://www.4gamer.net/games/668/G066861/20260925003/","title":"［インタビュー］「世界のどこにもまだ存在しないゲームを作っている」――NC副社長James Bae氏に聞く「シンダーシティ」プレアルファテストの手応えと，12月に迫るアルファテスト"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["Cinder City"],"studios":["NCSoft"],"people":["James Bae"],"type":"news","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}