Nexon expands its presence

COLOGNE, Germany ― Nexon Company said here on Wednesday that it will focus on spreading its soon-to-be-launched new online games in European countries, after featuring two titles for the first time at this year’s gamescom convention.

Introducing the first-person shooter “Shadow Company” and real-time strategy game “Navy Field 2” to European users, Nexon Europe chief executive Kim Sung-jin said the company plans to release the games in the first half of next year.

“After numerous reviews, we came to the conclusion that the two titles were the best in terms of content and system stability,” Kim said in a meeting with the Korean press.

“Shadow Company is the next-generation FPS game, indicating that it is based on realistic graphics. We plan to create a bigger market founded on our new approach.”

With the planned release of the two big titles, Nexon Europe ― headquartered in Luxemburg ― is hoping to take advantage of the opportunities in the European market and double its sales figure in 2012.

The firm, established in March 2007, posted annual sales of 28.7 billion won ($25.4 million) last year, up 111 percent from 13.6 billion won in 2010.

“We have already grown to a great extent in the five major European nations such as Germany, the U.K., France, Italy and Spain, but we still believe there are many chances left for us here,” said Kim.

While European markets like Turkey and Israel have big potential, the game publisher currently has great interest in countries like Poland, Hungary and Romania, the 43-year-old CEO said.

As part of its efforts to see more growth in the region, Nexon Europe said it plans to offer the company’s titles in many different languages and jump into the European mobile gaming market in the near future.

The firm’s portal is currently provided in six languages ― English, German, French, Spanish, Turkish and Dutch ― and its most representative online game “Maple Story” is offered in English, German, Dutch and Spanish.

“It’s our goal to become the largest online game publisher in Europe and we’re confident that it is going to happen in the next three to four years,” said Kim.

By Cho Ji-hyun, Korea Herald correspondent
(sharon@heraldcorp.com)