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Nexon

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This article is about the Korean gaming corporation. For the company formerly known as Nexon, Inc., see KRU Interactive. For the French town, see Nexon, Haute-Vienne.
Nexon Corporation
IndustryGame developer and Publisher
Founded1994
HeadquartersSouth Korea Seoul, South Korea
Revenue350 million USD per year
Websitehttp://www.nexon.com

Nexon Corporation (Template:Lang-ko) is a Korean gaming corporation and developer of online games and MMORPGs. Its headquarters are located in Seoul, South Korea.

History

Nexon Corp. published their first title, Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds, in 1990. In 1998 Nexon released Dark Ages: Online Roleplaying which was loosely based on the Korean game Legend of Darkness, using the same server technology. The North American version of Dark Ages was developed by David Kennerly

Nexon Corp. has also released a few unsuccessful games to the North American audience in beta form which have since been dropped. They include Elemental Saga, QuizQuiz and Elancia. QuizQuiz never left beta stage in North America but was later released through the Japanese division of Nexon, Nexon Japan, in a Japanese version. QuizQuiz has since evolved into the exclusively Korean and Japanese online game Q-Play, while Elemental Saga was eventually cancelled. Nexon has several games exclusively available to Korean players such as Elancia and Crazy Arcade.

In 2001, Nexon Inc. released Shattered Galaxy, published through TriSynergy. Though it had previously won the Seamus McNally Grand Prize at the 2001 Independent Games Festival, hosted through the Game Developers Conference, the game floundered when it was released to retail. It was subsequently maintained exclusively through KRU Interactive. Shattered Galaxy itself was a heavily localised and customised version of its Korean parent game, Tactical Commanders.

In 2003, Wizet created a hugely successful game called MapleStory, which eventually had clients in South Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Southeast Asia, North America and Europe and many other places. Nexon then merged with Wizet and jointly control MapleStory.

It has produced several online video games, primarily MMORPGs and online action games. Most games have used a 2D perspective, including side-scrolling, top-down, and isometric perspectives. Newer 3D titles are currently being published. Although most games are available for free, various gameplay enhancements can be purchased.

Nexon is one of the pioneers of the Free to Play model using Virtual Asset Sales to generate revenue. Of a reported $230M in revenue for 2005, 85% was said to be from the sale of virtual items. [1]

Partnership with Nintendo

NEXON announced that they have made a partnership with Nintendo,[2] though they will continue games for the computer as well. Together, they are currently working on MapleStory DS for Nintendo's handheld console, Nintendo DS.

NEXON Cash

File:Nexon Card USA.jpg
Nexon Cash Card ($10)

Commonly referred to as 'NX Cash' or just 'NX', the NEXON Cash system was one of the first systems to use the Virtual Asset Sales(VAS) model. The Nexon Cash system was first introduced in the Korean version of MapleStory. The NEXON Cash system allows users to purchase NEXON cash with real money. The NX cash can be used to obtain virtual game items that other users normally wouldn't have. You can buy cards with 5, 10, 25 or 50 dollar values. Players can use this virtual cash to buy items for their characters in games that support a "Cash Shop." The NEXON Cash system has appeared in other games to generate additional funds for their company and keep their games free to play.

On January 11, 2007, NEXON America announced the release of NEXON Prepaid Cards. The prepaid cards contain amounts of 10,000 ($10 USD) or 25,000 ($25 USD) NX currency that can be redeemed for NX Cash. As of 15 October, 2008 the prepaid cards are available in North American Target stores, 7-Eleven stores, Duane Reade, CVS/pharmacy, Best Buy, Rite Aid, Longs Drugs, and Blockbuster stores in the US. In Canada, the cards are available at Future Shop, Shoppers Drug Mart, and 7-Eleven. [3]

Recently MapleStory's Trade Shop was established, in which users can buy game items with real Nexon Cash. However, only Nexon Cash from the prepaid cards can be used in this.

In the Trade Shop, players can request items for others to sell and even put up their own items for a certain amount of cash depending on the item's rarity and benefits.

News

  • October 2005 - Nexon Corp. publishes Global MapleStory under the name NXGames from Wizet.
  • March 2006 - Nexon America hires CEO John Chi and starts a major marketing campaign.
  • June 2006 - Nexon disclosed it is set to launch a game portal service in the U.S., with the company planning to unveil "Audition," an online dance game enjoying success in Taiwan and China as well as in the home market.
  • 7 June 2006 - KIPA (Korea IT Industry Promotion Agency) listed Audition Online to be launched in America.
  • 3 November 2006 - Alex Garden, co-founder of Relic Entertainment, joins Nexon to run Nexon's North American game development studio, Nexon Publishing North America.[4]
  • 27 July 2007 - Nexon Corp. announces a partnership with Valve Software to publish Counter Strike Online in Asia.
  • 27 March 2008 - Mabinogi is launched.
  • 13 June 2008 - Nexon Corp. announces its beta release for Sugar Rush Arena. As of 25 June, no further information is available.
  • 19 July 2008 - Combat Arms' release is announced.

Company Divisions

NEXON America

File:Nexoneu.gif
NEXON Europe Limited Logo

NEXON America first started as NXGames in October 2005. By partnering with Wizet, NEXON America cosigned and acquired publishing rights of MapleStory in North America. On November 2, 2006, NXGames began marketing their business as NEXON America and dropping the NXGames name. On November 9, 2006, NEXON America had announced its partnership with MTV Networks to promote NEXON games and enhance the Neopets services.[5] NEXON has also announced that they will market MapleStory, Kartrider (Currently closed for full release), Mabinogi, Combat Arms, Audition Online and Sugar Rush with MTV Networks.


NEXON Europe

NEXON Europe is one of the new online game portals in Europe. NEXON Europe first opened on April 9, 2007, when NEXON Europe released the Open Beta of MapleStory Europe. On May 31, 2007, NEXON Europe officially released MapleStory Europe and opened the cash shop. The release also marked the official grand opening of MapleStory Europe and the game will be removed from its beta stages. The addition of Combat Arms to the Nexon Europe game line was announced by Nexon America on August 8, 2008. On the 25 September 2008, Nexon Europe launched the Combat Arms Europe Teaser Website. On 28th October 2008, Nexon Europe started the Combat Arms Europe Closed Beta testing phase, which finished on the 11th November 2008. Combat Arms Europe Open Beta testing began on 16th December 2008 and will finish on January 15th 2009. Nexon Europe also opened the brand new Nexon Europe Portal Website on 16th December 2008.

NEXON Japan

NEXON Japan is one of the most successful online gaming companies in Japan. NEXON Japan was first started with MapleStory, which turned into a synonymous online game.

NEXON Korea

NEXON Korea is one of the South Korea's gaming industry's larger companies.[citation needed] NEXON Korea started with Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds in their lineup. NEXON Korea received a large influx of users migrating to the Korean version because of the Tespia Test Server and their more up-to-date patching. To combat this, NEXON Korea now requires a Korean Social Security Number to register. Even with Korean Social Security Number, a number of OBTG(old existing forum) members were able to get into Nexon Korea's games.

NEXON Games

Main article: List of NEXON Games

See also


References

  1. ^ Virtual Goods Summit 2007 - Videos, Top 10 Notes, Raw Notes - Virtual Goods Summit 2007
  2. ^ "Nintendo to invade Korea; teams up with MMORPG dev". Destructoid. 2006-12-26. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
  3. ^ Nexon.net Game Card Locator Nexon.net - Game Card Locations
  4. ^ "'Warhammer' Creator Joins Nexon". The Korea Times. 2006-11-05. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  5. ^ "MTV Networks and Nexon Partnership". Nexon Notice Board. 2006-11-09. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
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