Odin: Valhalla Rising, the Norse MMORPG That Took the Throne From Lineage
In the summer of 2021, a newcomer from Kakao Games and Lionheart Studio did what rivals had failed to do for years: it pushed Lineage M off the top of Google Play. Five years on, a follow-up is on the way.
For four years, beating Lineage on Korea's Google Play chart was the industry's impossible job. Lineage M took No. 1 in June 2017, handed it only to its own sibling Lineage 2M, and shrugged off almost every challenger. In June 2021, Netmarble's Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds managed to pass it for a moment, which Byline Network called the first crack in the Lineage wall.
Then came a game with a Norse god in its name. Odin: Valhalla Rising, developed by Lionheart Studio and published by Kakao Games, launched in the summer of 2021 and, right after release, overtook Lineage M for No. 1 in Google Play sales in Korea. The Asia Business Daily later described it as the first time since 2017 that a Lineage title had dropped from first place in that way.
What Odin is
Odin is a full-scale MMORPG for PC and mobile, set in a world built on Norse mythology. Its name comes from Odin, the chief of the Norse gods, and Valhalla, the hall where he gathers fallen warriors.
Its pitch was technical as much as mythological. Lionheart built a seamless open world with no loading screens between zones and leaned hard on high-end graphics, using 3D scanning and motion capture to make characters and monsters look more realistic than most Korean mobile MMORPGs of the time. For players used to Lineage M's top-down look, the difference was obvious from the first screenshot, and it is a big reason the game made such an impression in Korea's crowded 2021 market.
Kakao Games' breakthrough
For Kakao Games, Odin was a turning point. The company began life as Daum Games, took the Kakao name after Kakao acquired Daum, and rebranded in 2016. It listed on Korea's KOSDAQ market in September 2020. Much of its line-up over the years had been games made by other studios, from casual KakaoTalk titles to PC games it published in Korea. Odin gave it a flagship MMORPG that could stand toe to toe with NCSOFT.
How Odin changed the market
Odin proved that the Lineage brothers could be beaten with a genuine alternative rather than a copy. It still offered the things Korean MMORPG players expect, from guild wars to gear progression, but it sold itself on scale, visuals and a new setting. In WGC's view, Odin also raised the bar for every Korean MMORPG launch that followed: big open worlds, cinematic trailers and PC play became standard selling points.
It also showed how crowded the top of the chart was about to become. In 2022, the Asia Business Daily noted that Nexon's HIT2, Dungeon&Fighter Mobile and Shift Up's Goddess of Victory: NIKKE each briefly reached No. 1 after launch, before the Lineage series took the spot back.
What's next
Kakao Games is preparing more MMORPGs. Alongside Odin Q, Edaily reported in June 2026 that the company was preparing Dokkaebi's World, a retro pixel-art MMORPG drawing on Korean folklore and a popular web novel, also for the second half of the year. Neither had a confirmed release date in that report.
WGC's take: Odin's real legacy is that it ended the idea that Lineage M was untouchable. Korea's 2026 MMORPG launches, from SOL: enchant to Zeus: God of Pride, are competing in a market Odin helped open up. If Odin Q can bring the same ambition to a new format, Kakao Games may have its second big Norse saga.