The world's first Java mobile game developer finally remembered the unfinished masterpiece that had been forgotten for 13 years.

The nostalgic wind has finally blown onto Steam.

In recent years, more and more old games have been launched on the Steam platform, such as Flash Fighters and Frontline Commando: WW2 which we've talked about before.

Two days ago, another heavyweight game quietly went live. It is the masterpiece of mobile games in the early days of the smartphone era, Epic 4 released in 2012.

Epic 4

Those who didn't play Epic 4 at that time can hardly understand how shocking this game was.

In 2012, smartphones hadn't fully penetrated the Chinese market yet, and Chinese mobile games were still unknown. The stars of the market were casual games. Where's My Water?, Carrot Fantasy, Fishing Joy, and Angry Birds were the most popular games to install.

The dark fantasy ARPG Epic 4 released in 2012 was a well - known high - quality game in the global mobile game market at that time.

This statement is not an exaggeration. Most domestic players who played this single - player in - app purchase mobile game back then played the Chinese - translated cracked version or simply modified the game data by themselves using game hacking tools. More than a decade has passed, and there are still plenty of domestic and foreign players in major game communities like TapTap, exchanging game experiences, showing off their collectibles, and longing for the developer to create a sequel to this mobile game that has been idle for more than a decade.

Even seasoned mobile game players may not immediately recall any other single - player mobile games from more than a decade ago that have received the same treatment as Epic 4.

What story does this game, which many people may not have even completed, actually tell? Why hasn't there been a sequel to the much - anticipated Epic 4? Can we still expect Epic 5 in our lifetime... Next, we'll unravel these childhood mysteries one by one.

Since it's called Epic 4, people probably think there must be Epic 1, 2, and 3.

This statement is partly true.

Actually, there are Epic 1, 2, 3, and 4, but only the latter three, 2, 3, and 4, truly belong to the Epic IP.

To put it simply, the first - generation Java version of Epic was released on the three major mobile download platforms in South Korea, SKT, KTF, and LGT, in 2007. Another significant event happened this year: Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in California, an epoch - making product that would shape the future social landscape.

iPhone

The developer of Epic, Com2uS, started to port old games to the new platform in order to capture the iOS market.

They renamed the previously developed Feno Legend 2 to Epic Chronicles: Feno Legend and released it on the iOS platform.

The first - generation Epic in 2007 was renamed Epic 2: Ron the Wanderer when it was launched on iOS. The game also changed from touch - control to four - way joystick control, which was adopted by subsequent works.

The Epic series is a leader in the industry. As a paid single - player mobile game, Epic Chronicles: Feno Legend, released at the end of 2008, exceeded 1 million downloads in just a few days. Epic 2: Ron the Wanderer in 2009 won the Best Game Award from the well - known old - school mobile game website 148 Apps in the United States. Epic 3: Heir of Kania won the second place in the Best Role - Playing Game (Android) category in 2011.

The final installment, Epic 4: Assassin of Balesse, released at the end of 2012, exceeded 5 million downloads in more than two years. Note that these are only the statistics from Google Play, and the iOS platform and various cracked versions are not included, so it's hard to evaluate its overall performance.

However, judging from the continuous voices of players over the decades, no one would question that Epic 4: Assassin of Balesse is a successful game.

Epic 4: Assassin of Balesse

The open - ended bad ending isn't the most frustrating part for players. The annoying thing is that those who were looking forward to Epic 5 to round off the story didn't wait for the announcement of the sequel but instead got a bolt from the blue.

On the afternoon of March 7, 2013, Com2uS, the developer of the Epic series, announced at its annual new product launch that, considering factors such as R & D costs, game revenues, and future industry trends, it would no longer produce single - player RPG games, and its future R & D focus would shift to social and card games.

Epic 4: Assassin of Balesse, without a real ending, has since become a lingering concern for countless people.

If you search for Epic 5 online, you'll find that a large number of players are still waiting for an ending that may never come, and some people even start to write their own sequels.

Fan - written sequel on social media

On the other hand, Com2uS, the world's first Java mobile game developer founded in the last century, did achieve some results by choosing to abandon single - player mobile games and undergoing self - revolution. However, its development path doesn't suit Chinese players' tastes, and due to policy reasons, it has little popularity in China.

For example, its baseball - themed mobile game series, the MLB series, is still a top - tier game in its category. The monthly revenue of MLB in 2012 was still $500,000 last month. Summoners War: Sky Arena in 2014 has earned over $3 billion in a decade.

Summoners War: Sky Arena

Its main problem in the game field is the lack of new products and poor performance. In a nutshell, it's living off its past achievements.

Of course, it still makes money from its past achievements, and that's not embarrassing.

The problem is that if you look up information about Com2uS, you'll find that the company has been in the red for a long time, and its stock price has even fallen back to what it was a decade ago in recent years.

Dude, where's the money?

Com2uS stock price

The answer is simple: the money has been invested. Some investments yield returns, while others result in total losses.

As the saying goes, a big company is always up to something. Com2uS, a large - scale South Korean company, is clearly restless, as evidenced by its decisive abandonment of the Epic series back then.

Some of its strategies have paid off, such as expanding into the film and entertainment industry.

As early as 2019, the story - based game Targeted by Bad Boys by Com2uS' subsidiary Day Seven was adapted into a webcomic and a web drama. The South Korean drama The Youngest Son of a Chaebol Family in 2022 was produced by a subsidiary of Com2uS.

The Youngest Son of a Chaebol Family

The entertainment industry is unpredictable. In 2024, when Com2uS announced its performance, it said that the slump in the media content business was one of the reasons for the losses.

This is understandable, just like Com2uS' losses in terms of labor costs, operating costs, marketing costs, and market expansion.

Some of its business moves are hard to understand, such as entering the NFT market. However, considering the South Koreans' enthusiasm for cryptocurrency speculation, Com2uS' actions become more understandable.

Com2uS isn't just dipping its toes into the NFT market. It really treats this as a major business and even built its own NFT platform, Com2Verse.

To be fair, when Com2uS started to enter the NFT market, its stock price rose significantly. However, the company's performance losses can be blamed on its NFT and metaverse business.

In 2022, Com2uS Holdings had a net loss of 31.7 billion South Korean won (about $24 million) in the second quarter, and the publicly announced reason was losses from various virtual assets. In 2023, the business unit behind its NFT platform lost $6.2 million in the first half of the year, and Com2uS downsized its team. At the beginning of 2024, its NFT platform laid off more than a hundred people because the platform was still losing money...

Even so, Com2uS hasn't given up on NFTs. It seems that they are truly in love with each other and will be together forever.

Com2uS

So, the reason why Com2uS' stock price is so bad is that its losses often exceed its profits.

In March this year, South Korean media reported that Com2uS' stock price decline for three consecutive years was due to the fact that its new media business launched in 2021 didn't meet the expected profit level. Whether there are other reasons is up to everyone to judge.

In short, judging from the data it has currently released from 2022 - 2024, its operating profit was only positive in 2024, and its net profit was only positive in 2023. It would be a miracle if the stock price could rise.

Com2uS financial report data

In March, South Korean media reported that Com2uS would try to boost its stock price by launching multiple new games and other means. However, it's clear that all these means have failed.

Going back to the original question, can we still expect Epic 5 in our lifetime? I can only say there's a certain possibility, but you'd better not get your hopes up too high.

Now, single - player games in South Korea have become popular again. The success of single - player games like Sword Star and Pinocchio's Lies gives a glimmer of hope for Epic 5.

Looking on the bright side, the release of Epic 4 on Steam may be a tentative signal.

But to be honest, Com2uS has squandered a good hand of cards. We don't ask for a game remake, but a simple port is really too much. The optimization is a mess, and there are bugs everywhere. Out of nostalgia, 80% of the 289 reviews are positive, which is already very generous.

No matter how the story ends, I just hope that Com2uS can treat Epic well because it was the white moonlight of a generation in the era of smartphone games and the lost youth of a generation.

Written by: Zhang Dadong

Edited by: Mangshan Pit Viper