It would seem characters from The Witcher franchise will make their debut in popular MMORPG Lost Ark earlier than anticipated — at least for the Korean audience. Earlier this month, both games’ Twitter accounts had announced their collaboration for 2023, yet a new Korean-language trailer released this weekend indicates the crossover will begin this Wednesday, November 23.
The trailer depicts Witcher franchise protagonist Geralt of Rivia appearing out of the ether through a portal into the MMO’s world of Arkesia. After a few brief views of the scenery and inhabitants, a larger portal appears, leading in series favorites Yennifer, Triss, and Dandelion (that’s the one Jaskier’s based on, for those who only follow the Netflix show.) Finally, after some dialogue between the four characters, Ciri begins stepping forward, slowly at first, but pickling up pace and running into Geralt’s embrace.
According to a description provided at Twinfinite, the portal appears just after a festival on an island in the Sea of Gienah. Not much else is known about the effect Geralt and friends will have on the world of Arkesia nor why they have come there, but more details are sure to leak through once the Korean version has gone live later this week.
The game’s Korean audience getting Witcher content before the rest of the world shouldn’t come as a surprise. Publisher/developer Smilegate is located in South Korea and originally launched the game there in 2019. It didn’t make its debut in the European, North American, or South American markets until February of this year, courtesy of Amazon Games. Still, even though the western world isn’t able to get the content immediately, the early released footage has given fans of both series something to look forward to in the coming year.
If you’re intrigued at the prospect of meeting your favorite The Witcher characters in an MMO setting but haven’t delved into the world of Lost Ark yet, you can find the free-to-play PC exclusive on Steam, along with a variety of paid starter packs.