Two major Asian online game companies are forming an alliance. South Korea’s Nexon (recently relocated to Japan) and China’s Perfect World are teaming up with a joint venture to manage and operate online games in Korea.
The deal comes just a day after Nexon made a big move. Nexon reportedly may raise nearly $1.3 billion in an initial public offering on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, according to Reuters and the Nikkei business daily.
Nexon is one of Asia’s mighty biggest online game publishers, with games including MapleStory, Mabinogi, Vindictus, Combat Arms, Dragon Nest and Dungeon Fighter Online. More recently, the company has been expanding in the U.S., launching a Facebook version of MapleStory and investing in mobile social games. It also invested in social game maker 6waves Lolapps.
Perfect World, based in Beijing, is a major online game publisher that operates games such as Perfect World, Legend of Martial Arts, Zhu Xian, Chi Bi, Battle of the Immortals, Fantasy Zhu Xian, Forsaken World, Dragon Excalibur, Empire of the Immortals and Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. These may not be well-known in the West, but they’re free-to-play titles that are earning considerable sums; users play the games for free, but pay real money for virtual goods. Now the joint venture will take those games into South Korea, where online games are extremely popular.
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“This strategic alliance will help us further expand our user base and provide the highest quality services to local players in the Korean market,” said Michael Chi, chief executive of Perfect World. “The introduction of more of Perfect World’s online games into the Korean market will help further strengthen our international reputation as a comprehensive online game developer and operator.”
Min Seo, CEO of Nexon Korea, recognized Perfect World’s rich content and renowned development talent.
