Nexon
Article needs to be cleaned up, take away the , , <ref>, </ref>, etc
NEXON Corporation 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 1996. It was significant because Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds was the world's first online graphic game to be published. It brought great success and fame to NEXON over the years. 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, KartRider 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 canceled. 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 Seumas 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 localized and customized 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, Europe, Brazil, Vietnam and players from 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.
Partnership with Nintendo
NEXON announced that they have made a partnership with Nintendo, 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.
Partnership with Valve
In July 27, 2007, NEXON and Valve made a partnership and announced Counter-Strike Online, a new online version of the world's most popular first person shooting multiplayer game that will be tailored for Asia. Under the terms of the agreement between two studios, NEXON developed and became the exclusive publisher for Counter-Strike Online in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and China.After the release of Counter-Stike Online Nexon released a lot of updates for their own FPS game called "Combat Arms"
NEXON Cash
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 7-Eleven stores, Target (They are no longer available at Target), 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, Best Buy, Shoppers Drug Mart, and 7-Eleven.
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.
NEXON Cash Cards are not available in Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, or Quebec.
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.
- 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.
- 9 April 2009 - Combat Arms service discontinued in South America
- 14 April 2009 - MapleStory takes action against illegally operated private servers such as SydneyMS and DestinyMS.
Divisions
NEXON America
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 announced its partnership with MTV Networks to promote NEXON games and enhance the Neopets services. NEXON has also announced that they will market MapleStory, Mabinogi, Combat Arms, Audition Online and Sugar Rush, and also Dungeon Fighter Online S with MTV Networks. Audition Online (which has been transferred over to the game hosting service RedBana Corp.). On April 2, 2009, NEXON America made an announcement that South American support for Combat Arms would end on April 9, 2009. Sugar Rush has Been taken back by Klei entertainment as of August 5th.
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 28 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 16 December 2008 and will finish on January 15 2009. NEXON Europe also opened the brand new NEXON Europe Portal Website on 16 December 2008. Combat Arms was fully launched by NEXON Europe in 2008, servicing Europe and the Middle East. Nexon Europe has been blamed for having bad game masters{GMs} and played by many in-game users, testers and ex-game masters.
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. 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 resident registration number to register. Even without a Korean resident registration number, a number of OBTG(old existing forum) members were able to get into NEXON Korea's games.
NEXON Games
"Combat Arms"
"Mabinogi"
"Sugar Rush"
"Maple ITCG ONLINE"
External links
- Company Website [1]
- GMS www.nexon.net
- EMS www.nexoneu.com
- KMS www.nexon.com
- JMS www.nexon.co.jp