EVER-EXPANDING MMO publisher NCsoft has revealed that it is giving its European European development capabilities a huge boost – doubling in size in the next 18 months alone.

The target was revealed as NCsoft’s chief executive officer Geoff Heath told MCV that its first PS3 project should be hitting retail this time next year – and that its hugely popular City of Heroes/Villians franchise is due for a major expansion.

“If you look at the latest financials, the group as a whole has done well. The expectations were that we were going to grow, which we have done, and the European results were good in particular.

“The growth over the next couple of years in Europe will come from our own internal studios. The company, purely on the development side, will most likely double over the next 18 months or so.”

Heath added that the company’s console debut is on the horizon – and is shaping up well. “There’s an awful lot of work going on in the background. All I can say is that it’s going fine. We’re aiming for the first release at the end of next year or the year after.”