As competition in the mobile market intensifies, South Korean gaming giant Netmarble has announced a major technical upgrade for Blade & Soul Revolution. The long-running mobile MMORPG is moving from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5, marking a major visual and technical overhaul for the eight-year-old title.

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Netmarble said the large-scale engine migration has been completed, with the upgraded version set to debut in a major update on May 26. The company added that the project took around 18 months to finish, underscoring the challenge of upgrading a live-service mobile MMORPG with years of accumulated content and systems.

Unreal Engine 5 is best known for advanced features such as Nanite and Lumen, technologies more commonly associated with high-end PC and console games. Netmarble said it has carried out extensive optimization to adapt the upgraded engine for mobile devices.

The move from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5 is expected to deliver a major visual leap for Blade & Soul Revolution, with more expansive environments, smoother character movement, and more detailed martial arts animations.

To ensure stability at launch, however, the update will not include the Enhanced Input framework for now. More complex controller and key-mapping adjustments may be considered in a later phase.

Blade & Soul Revolution was developed under Netmarble’s partnership with NCsoft, which began in 2015. According to Sensor Tower, the game generated around $550 million in global revenue from its launch in December 2018 to January 2023.

But as the mobile MMORPG enters its eighth year of service, aging visuals, outdated UI, slower loading times, and dated combat animations have become growing concerns among core players. For a martial arts fantasy title built around stylish movement and immersive combat, visual quality has become a key pressure point.

The pressure is also visible in its financial performance. According to Daishin Securities, Blade & Soul Revolution generated 57.7 billion won in revenue in 2024, while its 2025 revenue is projected to fall to 48.3 billion won, down nearly 16% year-on-year.