Nexon Korea's startup investments pay off
Shown above is a screenshot of mobile game “Maple Story M” of NSC, which has been acquired by Nexon. / Courtesy of Nexon
Nexon Korea’s investments in startup companies, which have been carried out under its unique scheme called the Nexon and Partners Center and M&A, are bearing fruits as their products hit the jackpot in the game industry.
The country’s largest game company said Monday that mobile game “Maple Story M,” which is the result of collaboration between Nexon Korea and venture firm NSC, has been downloaded more than 2 million times since its launch this October.
Now, “Maple Story M” is the most popular mobile game application at the Apple App Store and No. 2 at the Google Play Store. In recognition of its high upside potential, Nexon Korea took over NSC last month.
After the acquisition, Nexon Korea has been vying to further enhance the features of “Maple Story M.”
Earlier this March, the Korean giant snapped up U.S. mobile game developer Big Huge Games, which came up with the popular premium mobile game “DomiNations.”
The strategy game had more than 27 million downloads worldwide since its April 2015 debut. Headquartered in Timonium, Maryland, Big Huge Games is headed by lead designer Brian Reynolds.
Boolean Games, which was purchased by Nexon last year, plans to release action mobile role-playing game (RPG) “Dark Avenger 3” of which the teaser trailer was disclosed during the G-Star 2016 global game conference last month.
The upcoming game, which Nexon Korea says is armed with better graphics and intense combat, is the latest installment of popular mobile action franchise “Dark Avenger,” which crossed 35 million downloads around the world.
Topping other things off, the biggest success of Nexon Korea’s investments this year would be the country’s mobile action RPG “Heroes of Incredible Tales,” which was developed by NAT Games.
It was named this year’s best game during the 2016 Korea Game Awards ceremony in November. Its service is available in 140 countries and in particular, it is popular in Japan ― before its introduction early this month, more than 400,000 made pre-orders in the country.
Nexon Korea gobbled up a 22.4-percent stake in NAT Games this April.
“We are trying to build a strong partnership with developers for greater synergy. We will continue to make investments in developers with high potential,” said Nexon Korea CEO Park Ji-won who took the reins of the firm in early 2014.