communication, and that endeared it to me. Grand Chase also featured its own virtual park, where players would meet and strengthen bonds by adding friends, joining groups of friends, and getting‘ married’ to another player they loved to fight alongside. These features kept me playing all throughout high school.
I eventually became so enamored with Grand Chase that I didn’ t need to be a part of the exclusive boys’ club. They had already moved onto other games I found uninteresting. I did manage to introduce other friends in my high school and community to Grand Chase. One of those friends was a boy named Javid. Javid would visit my house and talk to me about games and life. He’ d bring his laptop to play games on. He regularly shared any pastries that his grandmother made, which was( literally) really sweet. I introduced Javid to Grand Chase, and we became closer by playing games together for hours. We eventually got‘ married’ on the game, after we started dating in the real world. Grand Chase became an integral part of my life, and many people I loved and cherished were my in-game comrades.
I moved to the United States to complete high school, and my love of Grand Chase came along with me. I would play with my friends to keep in touch with them, and to discuss what was happening back at home. However, I was forced to stop playing Grand Chase in April of
2015. Unfortunately, the game ultimately fell due to gaming politics. KOG, a South Korean company, developed Grand Chase, but the game was published by Ntreev. After a while, Ntreev returned control of Grand Chase back to KOG. By the time Grand Chase had been returned to KOG, the company had already developed a new game, called Elsword. Elsword and Grand Chase were very similar MMO’ s. Additionally, Grand Chase was losing popularity, and those that would log on to the game were seasoned veterans who had already developed a relationship with the game. So, KOG announced that they would be shutting down the Grand Chase servers.
The last time I played Grand Chase, I was sitting on the couch in the back of the student lounge at my in Miss Hall’ s School in Massachusetts. When I couldn’ t access my account a few days later, I broke down crying. The hours I had spent creating friendships and building my confidence on Grand Chase all disappeared. It was gone, and no one would even remember a niche game like Grand Chase. I want everyone to know that Grand Chase did exist. It was here in the world, and it made a huge impact on lady gamers, on gamers looking for innovation, and on gamers who loved community. I play Elsword intermittently, but it is just not the same. I can only rely on my memories, and on the nostalgic conversations with those friends I have made along the way. To quote the game’ s own catchphrase:“ Long Live the Chase.”