Tabula Rasa: NCSoft at Crossroads?

Kotaku.com reported today about an article in the The Korea Times warning of a murky future for NCSoft unless they change their strategies, especially with the upcoming release of Tabula Rasa:

There's been some mixed press for NCSoft as of late: their European arm has just gotten a hefty grant from a British foundation, but profits are sagging and employees in the Korean office have been jumping ship on a fairly regular basis. The Korea Times has an article talking to NCSoft's CEO, Kim Taek-jin. With a pretty high turnover rate for employees and profits stagnating, it would seem that the company needs to do something different - and soon...

"One of our annual events is to listen to Kim saying: `This year, we will finally release Tabula Rasa in the market,' in his New Year speech. I heard it four times since 2004,'' said a company insider last week. "The only person in the company who have trust in the Garriotts is the CEO,'' another said in 2006.

The Korea Times also reported that NCsoft rejected funding for Richard Garriot's space trip:

As The Korea Times reported on its September 18 issue, NCSoft confirmed that Garriott will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) in the fall of 2008. But he will not get any money from the firm and will have to finance the project by himself, it said.

``It is a personal affair (of Garriott). We decided not to participate in the program,'' NCsoft's spokesperson Kim Ju-young said.