Netmarble's The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin has reached its half-anniversary. The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin is a multi-platform open-world RPG featuring a multiverse world and an original story set in a different time and space from the original work.

The game is rolling out a major update to mark its half-anniversary. With Ban joining in this update, players can now meet all seven members of the original Seven Deadly Sins, while also experiencing a new region, new story content, and more. Through Original Reproduction Quests, the events of Episode 1 of the original series—where Meliodas and Elizabeth first meet—unfold. In addition, various content additions and improvements are scheduled.

To celebrate the half-anniversary, an interview was held with Producer Koo Do-hyung of Netmarble F&C. As this update aims for a "new start," we were able to hear a wide range of insights directly from the development team.

Half-Anniversary and Future Direction

The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin has reached its 0.5-anniversary. How do you evaluate the past six months of live service and player feedback?

"It has been a deeply rewarding six months for which I am always grateful. Starting with early access and official launch in March, we have sequentially expanded regions, heroes, and content, and I believe we were able to continue our service smoothly for half a year thanks to our Star Keepers.

What brings me the most joy is that players find the new story developments—distinct from the original work—engaging. Watching players speculate about upcoming characters and storylines and comparing them with the original source material has been immensely rewarding. Knowing that there are people reading along with our story is the greatest driving force from a creator's perspective.

On the other hand, the areas I regret most are balance and difficulty. Every player has a different level of progression, and control schemes vary across platforms. I feel we weren't able to deliver a consistent, convincing difficulty level for everyone as much as we had hoped. Moving forward, we plan to focus on designing difficulty that takes all platforms into account while highlighting the unique traits of each piece of content.

We also take optimization very seriously. With every build, we review inconvenience reports and user feedback, and a dedicated task force is working on improvements. Optimization remains our top priority, and we will continue to refine it over time.

What is the core direction for this 0.5-anniversary update, and what are your long-term goals heading into the 1st anniversary?

"The core direction of this update is a 'Fresh Start.' We prepared it with the hope that it becomes a new beginning not only for new and returning players, but also for existing players and the development team. We have completely revamped rewards across various content and prepared generous event rewards.

With the addition of new hero Ban, all seven members of the Seven Deadly Sins are assembled, and we are also introducing the Original Reproduction Quest 'The Adventure Begins,' the new region 'Ravens,' Act 17, and the new content 'Labyrinth.' For new and returning users, we significantly increased reward quantities from content and events, and lowered the Burst activation requirement in the field so players can experience exhilarating combat from the early stage. We also added a tutorial skip and adjusted the tutorial summon so that players can acquire the hero Meliodas right away.

Until now, we focused on laying the foundation of our service by refining combat and progression fundamentals, as well as improving system structure, stability, and optimization. From the 0.5-anniversary onward, we plan to expand content and narrative. Our goal leading up to the 1st anniversary is a game that anyone can start without pressure and that offers a clear weekly purpose. We plan to continuously refine growth curves and content entry structures so that whenever players jump in, they can enjoy the game at their own pace.

How do you plan to handle new and existing heroes moving forward? What is your direction regarding "Four Knights of the Apocalypse," alternate hero variants, and reruns?

"When selecting new heroes, we place equal importance on their order of appearance in the original work, story progression, and player preferences. We believe these three elements are interconnected, and finding the moment where the story and gameplay experience align best is crucial. We also continuously review community feedback, regional responses, and survey results.

The system where a single character can use three types of weapons was introduced so that players can use their favorite characters for a long time while switching up playstyles. We felt that building depth into each character rather than infinitely inflating the character pool is better suited for an IP-based game. However, we continue to monitor the pros and cons of this system, including original adaptation accuracy and complexity.

We are positively reviewing 'Four Knights of the Apocalypse' characters, as fans have consistently requested them. We are considering how best to present them satisfyingly within Origin's universe. Alternate hero variants are also under consideration. Wanting to see another side of a beloved character is a natural expectation in IP games, but we understand there are concerns among players as well. Once a direction is set, we will share it through developer notes or other channels.

We are also taking reruns of existing limited heroes very seriously. Beyond simple rerun banners, we are exploring various approaches, and the upcoming Poll Summon is one of them. We will conduct a survey during the 0.5-anniversary period, and on September 16, we plan to launch a Poll Hero Summon featuring a separate pool of popular heroes chosen based on the results. Moving forward, we intend to expand methods that directly reflect player input in our live operations plans.

Faithful Adaptations and Original Stories

With Ban joining in this update, all seven members of the Seven Deadly Sins are now in the game. What does assembling the complete Sins team mean to the development team?

"From the development team's perspective, the overwhelming feeling is 'we've finally fulfilled our promise.' Bringing all members of the Sins together was a milestone we absolutely had to reach when making a game based on The Seven Deadly Sins, and filling that final spot for the 0.5-anniversary makes it uniquely meaningful.

With all seven Sins assembled, we can now fully recreate familiar party compositions and relationships from the original work within the game. This allows us to introduce inter-character dialogue and interactions, group-level synergy designs, and Original Reproduction Quests that require specific characters. Ban is a character fans have waited a long time for, and given the symbolic weight of filling the last slot, we poured even more effort into both his combat and skill presentations.

Could you introduce Ban's combat style and how he is meant to be played?

"We designed Ban to capture the feel of the original work while offering distinct experiences depending on his equipped weapon. The Three-Section Staff pushes back foes with multi-hit combos at mid-range, excelling in prolonged battles. The Greatsword is heavy and slow, but ideal for breaking enemy poise and delivering massive damage. The Gauntlets suit an aggressive, close-quarters playstyle. For Snatch, we focused on its core concept of 'stealing.' We translated the mechanic of taking something from an enemy and making it his own into the combat system, creating a structure that weakens the target while boosting Ban himself.

In combat, he functions as a sustained damage dealer who can endure and fight continuously. Because he can manage his own survival, he allows for versatile party compositions. He can be utilized in content where sustained damage is crucial—such as Raids or Knighthood Boss Battles—in open-field multi-battles, or in high-difficulty encounters where self-sustained healing and survival are required. Players can pair him with poise-breaking allies to land heavy Greatsword blows, or use Combined Attack combos to extend Snatch's benefits to the entire party.

When a character's power level in the original work conflicts with in-game balance, by what criteria do you make adjustments?

"We believe it is crucial to find a balance between faithful recreations that satisfy original fans and an environment where players can enjoy developing any character. A character's power level is expressed through sensations during gameplay, such as the scale of skill animations, battle voicelines, or conditional burst damage in specific scenarios. Actual combat performance is tuned so players can fully feel the intended appeal within each character's designated role. We also continuously pay attention to ensure that lacking a specific character never blocks players from enjoying game content.

What was the reason for introducing Original Reproduction content? How do you plan to balance the original narrative with Origin's unique story moving forward?

"Telling an original story set in an alternate timeline is a clear appeal of The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin. However, as developers, we always wondered, 'What if players could experience their favorite iconic scenes and heroes from the original series inside this game?' We also recognized the frustration fans felt when they didn't know when their favorite hero would appear in our sequential roster release. Original Reproduction content was started to resolve those concerns and revive the emotions fans felt back then.

'The Adventure Begins' is content that lets players directly play through the story of Episode 1 of the anime, where Meliodas and Elizabeth first meet. For those familiar with the original work, we hope it offers the experience of playing through that iconic scene; for those introduced through the game, we hope it serves as a natural gateway into the universe.

This is not a one-off event, but the first episode in a series of Original Reproduction content. We plan to add major episodes sequentially, and long-term, we would love to cover the entire original story. However, our priority is crafting a format best suited to both the original work and the gameplay experience of Origin.

The main story revolves around Origin's own multiverse narrative. Original series characters participate in this narrative, adding depth to the original storyline. Showing how original characters react and make decisions within Origin's circumstances is a story that only this game can tell. Conversely, Original Reproduction content aims to faithfully recreate the emotions of the original work. Adapting stories from 'Four Knights of the Apocalypse' is also under consideration. However, because it requires discussions and supervision with the original rightsholders, it is difficult to share specific details at this time.

How do you collaborate with the original rightsholders when creating new stories?

"In IP projects, we view supervision not as a separate process, but as an integral part of development. We constantly check with the original rightsholders to ensure new character designs, skill effects, dialogue, personality traits, and original settings do not conflict with the lore of the original universe. We share directions during the early planning stages and exchange feedback multiple times during production.

Memorable examples are Tioreh and Bug. These are special original characters for The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin that we commissioned directly from the manga author when starting the project. When we first received the concept sketches from the author, it really sank in that new characters were being birthed into this world specifically for our game. Later, Tioreh was even mentioned in 'Four Knights of the Apocalypse.' Knowing that an intersection formed between our game and the original work is a huge honor for the entire development team.

New Content and System Improvements

Since launch, issues like crashes, mobile overheating, and freezing have been pointed out. How much progress has been made on these?

"Optimization and combat currently hold our highest priority. Optimization is treated as the project's top objective, and a dedicated task force is continuously making improvements. Connection issues and crashes that occurred right after launch have significantly decreased in frequency. Mobile overheating and freezing have also improved after multiple optimization passes, though some players still experience inconvenience depending on their device and scenario, so we are keeping a close eye on it. Low-spec device compatibility, visual quality adjustments, and memory management are also being improved.

On mobile, we are working to keep visual quality as high as possible where character charm is conveyed, while adjusting foreground and background rendering details per device to ensure a stable gameplay experience. Long term, our goal is to offer graphical settings options on the same device so players can prioritize either visuals or smooth performance based on their preference. We are also continuously refining combat readability and targeting logic. Quality-of-life features like story replay and item favoriting are also taken seriously and will be addressed alongside high-priority tasks.

Some players feel there is a lack of motivation to revisit existing open-world areas. Do you plan to increase the utility of previously released regions?

"The development team treats this as an important issue internally. Even if we craft a vast open world with care, if there is no reason to revisit an area after initial exploration, that region remains only in the player's memory. We are exploring ways to give players reasons to return to existing regions through new motives and stories. At the same time, we are prioritizing accessibility and user-friendliness so players don't miss content in those areas.

How central will multiplayer content, such as Raids and Knighthood Boss Battles, be in Origin moving forward?

"Multiplayer content is planned as one of the main pillars of The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin moving forward. In particular, we believe Knighthoods serve as the in-game community hub and a powerful driving force that keeps players engaged. When players form relationships, chat, and set shared goals, the fundamental way they experience the game transforms.

We plan to update Knighthood content periodically. While we place high value on cooperation, assembling players can cause stress, so we are keeping a close watch on that balance. We are designing systems while carefully watching where fun might turn into a chore. Knighthood bosses will also be updated regularly, with required strategies shifting whenever a new boss arrives. We are preparing content that lets members enjoy finding solutions together.

There are opinions that the increased reliance on Combined Attacks has diminished the role of the Buster position. Some also point out that Block and Critical Defense disrupt the flow of combat. How do you view the current combat meta and plans for improvement?

"The development team is fully aware of the criticisms regarding the current combat meta. While higher utilization of Combined Attacks reflects part of our intended direction, having a specific position's role shrink as a result was not what we wanted.

The fun of theorycrafting team compositions arises when multiple options each hold distinct strengths. Rather than lowering the value of Combined Attacks, we want to approach this by elevating the value of other options. We plan to increase scenarios where the Buster position's contributions are clearly rewarded and design content where such setups excel. We are also thinking of ways players can utilize Burst more comfortably without feeling burdened.

Block and Critical Defense were introduced as mechanics to encourage reading enemy states and responding accordingly. However, we agree with feedback that current implementations fail to convey that intent clearly. If players cannot immediately understand why their attacks are ineffective, it simply feels like hitting a brick wall. We recognize that this breaks combat flow, and we are reviewing various adjustments, including visual indicators and mechanic placements.

Could you briefly introduce the new content, Labyrinth?

"The point I'd like to emphasize most about Labyrinth is that it is non-combat-focused content. Because it is not cleared through stats or raw combat power, newly joined players can access it without difficulty. It is a roguelike-style mode where the key lies in making strategic choices to navigate floors with randomized layouts.

We prepared various growth-oriented rewards to alleviate progression burdens for new players, while also placing essential materials so end-game players find it worthwhile. As players advance to higher floors, a deeper understanding of character synergy and tactical choices becomes necessary, allowing players to enjoy experimenting with different party combinations.

You are lowering progression burdens for new and returning players while simultaneously adding high-end content. How do you plan to balance the experiences of casual players and top-tier players?

"We believe in tailoring experiences to match player progression levels. We will continue lowering burdens associated with early growth and routine repetitive play. Adding tutorial skip, revamping early growth rewards, and lowering field Burst activation thresholds reflect that direction. We will also continue working to minimize wasted time along repetitive routes.

Transcendence Refining and Transcendence difficulty were designed as optional avenues for players who want to delve deeper. In particular, Transcendence difficulty is not content players must do for basic rewards, but rather a space sought out by those desiring competition. We ensured it does not hinder other progression or general gameplay.

Unlike before, we intend to separate farming and competitive domains. Our goal for high-tier content is not a simple stat-check wall, but a challenge that requires re-evaluating pattern recognition, party composition, and combat execution to overcome. We hope it serves as a clear stage for top players wishing to demonstrate their skill and game knowledge.