When they first came to this arrangement of theirs I was floored. I am always shocked when companies can overlook their mutual antagonism, and flesh out a mutually beneficial agreement. That said I thought that it was an agreement built on the promise of back stabbing. Sony openly competes against NCsoft. They have an entire division that makes the exact same type of games. Further more their future games in that division are all console exclusive to the PS3.
Honestly I couldn't see how NCsoft was going to be successful with their endeavor. They would have to compete directly with Sony on their own platform, and further more Sony had every reason to sandbag them. Sony would make more money off their first party titles in the genre, and its not as if they haven't spoken at great length about their own projects. The final clincher is the recent propensity of Sony to eat their mates when it comes to the MMORPG market.
I would say the rumor is very probable, because the original agreement seemed utterly unpractical. I could also see Microsoft making them a good offer for I suspect the title Aion. Which is what we are probably discussing here. That was the show piece, for NCsoft and Sony. That was also the only title to generate any hype about the arrangement.
This is perhaps the most probable rumor I have heard in some time.
