The Thai (Southeast Asian) closed beta test of Ascent: Infinite Realm went live yesterday (April 25th Bangkok local time). The client comes in at around 40GB (uncompressed). Actual access to the CBT requires an IC CODE (from various events, giveaways, and earlier registrations). VPN to actually connect to the game server is also required.
There is currently an ongoing pre-registration event that one can get an IC CODE immediately (until they run out). Since this blog is sort of a Bluehole/Krafton related one now, I’m going to be giving this a whirl later this week.
Some folks might be wondering why Thailand/SEA is seeing a closed beta test before NA/EU (which is being handled by Kakao Games). The simple answer is $$$; Asiasoft Online which is the parent company of the portal Playpark tossed Krafton some money. Kakao Games already has an investment stake in the game (they also paid for the exclusive publishing rights for the global version back in 2014 when the game was simply known by its codename Project W).
The initial Korean CBT happened back in December 2017 with some less than stellar feedback which caused a domino effect throughout 2018 with delaying the second Korean CBT and the first global CBT (both were placed on indefinite hold). Kakao also has their own specific business model plans for the Korean and western versions (part of this is also why Krafton entertained the influx of cash from Asiansoft/Playpark to launch their CBT in early 2019) which they are working with Krafton on (and will be looking at the games reception in SEA to make changes for the Korean and western versions).
