Phoenix Rising: Hellgate returns as free-to-play… Again.

May 20th, 2011

Ah Hellgate. You’ve had a long and winding path, and eventually, just like Schwarzenegger, we all knew you’d be back. If you’re not quite familiar with Hellgate’s history, let’s just say it’s been “troubled” at best, which at the end of the day, is/was quite a shame, as the title itself is quite enjoyable, and even through it’s ups and downs, has somehow manage to retain a devoted following, even while the game was offline.

A 90-second recap:

2007 – Hellgate London receives critical acclaim, as eager gamers can’t wait to get their hands on a new offering from former Blizzard employees who’d worked on the Diablo series.

However, that’s about as far as it went, as the game suffered from a number of critical bugs, with fix patches promised, but never released.

2008 – Developer Flagship Studios filed for bankruptcy, and was subsequently never heard from again (for the most part). Publisher Namco Bandai sought to save the title from its ultimate demise, first offering the title as a free-to-play in early January 2009, however the damage was done, the writing on the wall, and players leaving in droves.

What ensued is nothing short of a scene right out of Kramer vs. Kramer (a classic – watch it), with Korean publisher HanbitSoft finally gaining the IP rights to Hellgate: London. Consequently, and perhaps Against All Odds (another classic not to be missed), Hellgate took root and flourished in the South East Asian market.

After a few rounds of He Said, She Said (You see, it always comes back to Kevin Bacon), it looks like the North American market will see the return of Hellgate. T3 entertainment, Redbana and HanbitSoft announced yesterday that Hellgate is coming back with a vengeance, and is slated for a June 3-5th closed beta. As we’ve heard previously, this new (and hopefully improved) version of Hellgate will return as a free-to-play MMO.

So let’s see how this shakes out. I personally played Hellgate a bit back in the day, but eventually ended up with WoW as my personal MMORPG of choice, but that’s not to say that Hellgate wasn’t engaging. In fact, it was exactly this level of engagement, and the lack of developer support that finally made me throw in the towel. If HanbitSoft has learned any lessons from the past, it’s that in order to make a success, consumers must receive ongoing and regular service updates. A bit of a no-brainer, but clearly one that Flagship couldn’t quite get off the ground. And who knows…perhaps Hellgate is one of those titles that was just a bit too ahead of it’s time, and now, with a proper support mechanism in place could give some other competitors in the space (I’m looking at you Nexon) a run for their money. Literally.

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Nexon announces partnership with 2K Sports to produce Baseball Sim

May 18th, 2011

Leading games producer 2K Sports and free-to-play originator Nexon Corporation have recently announced a partnership agreement that will see the development and publishing of a new online baseball game, produced exclusively for the South Korean market. As both parties have strategic motives, 2K Sports wins with expanding their offerings into the Asian market, while Nexon scores a win with a major developer with a standard of excellence, and a long proven track record of quality gaming.

“Nexon is a pioneer in the online gaming space and its track record of creating quality online titles makes them an ideal partner,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K in a statement. “We view this as a great opportunity to deliver an outstanding simulation game to a population that enjoys online gaming and has a passion for baseball. We look forward to reaching new audiences with our authentic simulation titles.”

Not only will 2K Sports be entering the market with an established partner, but this new development project will serve to further expand and enhance their existing sports lineup. Building upon their NBA 2K and MLB 2K franchises, this new versioning of a baseball title is expected to fall right in line with Nexon’s MO, presumably making the game free-to-play, with the now-standard microtransaction based monetization module.

“This partnership is an opportunity to demonstrate the scope of our development capabilities by creating a new type of online game,” said Min Suh, CEO of Nexon Corporation in a statement. “We’re confident that Visual Concepts’ (a 2K Sports studio) proven success in developing sports simulations coupled with our online gaming expertise will result in a new kind of baseball experience for Korean online gamers.”

And while Nexon has enjoyed tremendous success with their more “traditional” titles such as MapleStory and KartRider, Take-Two Asia president Hubert Larenaudie is quick to point out a market primed for baseball, “As Korea’s number one spectator sport with nearly six million fans in 2010, baseball has a massive untapped audience to whom we believe our game will appeal.”

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Nexon: Q1 revenues up 59 percent

May 5th, 2011

Free-to-play/Microtransaction based games maker Nexon is reporting that it’s North American business unit, Nexon America, grew a healthy 59 percent in year-over-year first quarter revenues. Traditionally a slow season for the gaming industry, Nexon has beat the odds, making this growth particularly notable. The secret sauce behind Nexon’s impressive showing? A steady release of new content, resulting in increased user engagement and sales of microtransaction based items.

“Our success is the result of our ability to deliver engaging content that our players find valuable, whether they are playing for free or purchasing items in our games,” said Daniel Kim, CEO of Nexon America. “The substantial growth we are experiencing in North America is a reflection of how well Nexon is doing globally. We are growing our traditional MMOG business as well as expanding into other platforms such as the mobile and social games, which will help to expand our global reach and the number of people playing our games.”

In addition to their currently available Atlantica Online, Combat Arms, MapleStory, Vindictus, Dungeon Fighter Online, Mabinogi, and PopTag!, Nexon plans on a second appearance at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, and will showcase Dragon Nest, Nexon’s yet-to-be-released offering, as well as Vindictus. Dragon Nest is slated for a summer release for free-to-play PC gamers in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. According to Nexon, the title will combine fast-paced action alongside an engaging storyline and a the distinctive Nexon art style. Naturally, the title will be free-to-play, and microtransaction supported.

Likewise, as we recently reported, Nexon is teeing up a Facebook version, MapleStory Adventures, of the long running MapleStory franchise. And while Q1’s numbers are certainly impressive, with a Facebook launch of a perennial favorite, as well as a new “full” game, Nexon’s Q4 numbers should be poised to be off the charts.

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Nexon: How to make Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list two years running

April 21st, 2011

After accomplishing a global spread of their innovative idea, free-to-play, Nexon is looking to the next generation of success, and has recently been named to Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in Gaming for the second consecutive year.

We’ve covered Nexon’s various achievements this year, but a quick rundown sees the company diving head first into Mobile, Social, and Console gaming congruently.

On the mobile front, Nexon produced a special “Thief Edition,” of their bread-and-butter, side scroller, Maple Story for iOS devices in 2010, while March of this year saw the arrival of their “other” top seller, Kart Rider which counts a massive 200 million registered users worldwide. Within it’s first week of availability, Kart Rider clocked over 1 million downloads.

Socially, Nexon has been a bit late to the party, however they’re making up for it with a significant partnership with A Bit Lucky which focuses on cross-platform social gaming. Not putting all their eggs in one basket, Nexon has also founded the iNiative program which selected both Antic Entertainment and onetribe to receive $1 million in capital to put towards developing games for social networks. It’s still unclear as to who exactly is driving development, but Nexon has announced a Facebook bound version of MapleStory, aptly titled MapleStory Adventures.

And finally, on the console front, just last month, Nexon announced plans to bring their popular fighter, Dungeon Fighter Online to Xbox 360 users, available in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Chinese.

Obviously, with so many plates spinning, Fast Company has, yet again, taken notice. Dungeon Fighter Online with it’s 200 million global registrants, and MapleStory (90 million worldwide registered users) are leading the charge, and the gleam of Fast Company’s eye. But it’s not just Nexon’s actual gaming titles that have garnered a nod from Fast Company. The organizations’ innovative business model surrounding their Game Cards which carry pre-determined amounts of NX, Nexon’s virtual currency, are available at more than 70,000 retailers across the US in 7-Eleven, Toys ‘R Us, and Gamestop outlets.

“While Nexon has had great success in Asia and North America, our efforts to expand our platform reach is a push to make Nexon a global gaming power,” said Nexon America CEO Daniel Kim in a statement. “To be named on the Fast Company list of Most Innovative Companies in Gaming two years in a row is truly such an honor for the entire organization. We look forward to many more years of offering the best gaming experience to our fans, whether that be PC, mobile or social network platforms.”

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Nexon adds Dungeon Fighter Slayer Edition to iOS – thoughts on Nexon’s bigger plan

March 29th, 2011

Nexon has recently unleashed their popular MORPG Dungeon Fighter for iOS devices. Known as Dungeon & Fighter in all territories other than North America, The title is one of Nexon’s hottest properties, with over 200 million registered users, and now available for play on the go.

According to Nexon, the Dungeon & Fighter Slayer Edition is optimized for all iOS devices, and created by Neople, a fully owned subsidiary of Nexon. While this might be a “special edition” of Dungeon & Fighter, Nexon has taken the higher road, and is not pushing a watered down version of the title, but rather, has included a plethora of content not found on other versions of the game. Content includes Ancient Dungeons, as well as a playable Mage class to name a few. Neople/Nexon have also taken advantage of the unique interface offered by iOS devices, as players now have access to a pinch and zoom in/out of the mini-map, as well as use on screen directional keys for movement. The title still retains it’s long standing side-scrolling game play, a mechanic players have come to love and expect from Nexon.

“The iOS release of Dungeon & Fighter Slayer Edition represents a significant step forward for the Dungeon & Fighter franchise,” said Hyun-Jong Kim from Nexon Mobile in a statement. “Both longstanding fans of the franchise and new players alike will now be able to take the enthralling action of the Dungeon & Fighter universe with them on the go.”

Now if this were any other company offering yet another version of a title, I’d promptly yawn and move on. However, this is Nexon we’re talking about here. If you’re not familiar with Nexon, in a nutshell, if you like free-to-play, or paying for bits and pieces as you go, aka microtransactions, you’ve got respect to pay. While certainly not on the level of Apple, it’s fair to say that Nexon has done for games what Apple via iTunes did for music. I’ll explain:

Apple started a revolutionary program and idea with the advent of the iTunes store. It provided a safe and legitimate mechanism whereby users could pay for what they want, and download it directly to their computer. Not coming from the exact same starting point, Nexon sought to put games piracy to bed, once and for all. Their logic? Let the games loose for free, and then charge users for what they want along the way; be that a sword or potion here, or a map or additional levels there. For the longest time Nexon pushed this business model, and is not reaping the rewards. However, this was primarily browser based gaming via Nexon’s portal only.

Within the past week, we’ve seen Nexon port KartRider and their long standing flagship MapleStory over to both iOS devices and Facebook (and other social networks), as well as lead a financing round for a promising social games development house, A Bit Lucky. It’s a fair statement to make that something is definitely afoot at Nexon. With that said, Nexon is still at the pivot point, meaning, they’re now bringing their popular titles over into the social/mobile world. I see this as phase one of a much larger plan in the works. Once Nexon is settled and established in this playfield and worked out all the kinks, I believe this will be the time when we see Nexon’s investment in A Bit Lucky start to pay off, as the firm will undoubtedly produce Nexon’s next “big hit.”

Only time will tell, but it might be time to keep a closer eye on what Nexon’s up to, as Q1 is rapidly coming to a close. Next phase? My money’s on a Q4 ’11 release, just in time to take full advantage of the upcoming iOS, and most probably Phone 5.

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Nexon Dungeon Fighter headed to Xbox LIVE arcade

March 25th, 2011

Free-to-play innovator Nexon has recently announced a publishing deal with Microsoft Game Studios to bring the popular MORPG Dungeon Fighter Online to Xbox LIVE Arcade users everywhere.

With over 200 million registered users worldwide, Dungeon Fighter is a heavy weight in it’s own class.  While most of Dungeon Fighter’s audience coming from Asia, the game recently set a new record for concurrent players; registering 2.2 million concurrent players across China, Japan, and Korea.

The Xbox LIVE Arcade version of Dungeon Fighter Online won’t be a simple port, but rather will be co-developed between Nexon and Softmax.  Softmax has an appropriate pedigree, having worked on The War of Genesis and Magna Carta.  Nexon’s dev studio, Neople will take lead on the project, and Microsoft will do the publishing via the Microsoft Game Studios.  Likewise, Microsoft will handle the localizations into Japanese, German, Spanish, Italian, and French, while Nexon will handle Chinese and English language support.

“This agreement is a significant step forward for Nexon,” said Min Suh, Nexon’s chief executive officer. “For some time we have been seeking opportunities to expand beyond online PC gaming and move into new platforms like Xbox LIVE Arcade. With the help of Microsoft Game Studios’ deep development and localization experience, we anticipate that Dungeon Fighter Online will bring enjoyment to entirely new audiences on Xbox LIVE Arcade.”

This announcement arrives only days after Nexon’s <a href=”http://www.fatfoogoo.com/2011/03/a-bit-lucky-lands-5m-in-additional-funding-led-by-nexon/”>investment</a> in A Bit Lucky.  Likewise, SOE just <a href=”http://www.fatfoogoo.com/2011/03/sony%e2%80%99s-free-realms-headed-to-playstation-network/”>recently announced</a> that they own Free-to-Play hit Free Realms will be arriving on the PlayStation network later this year.  Call it coincidence, but it looks like we’re in the middle of a reverse flow of games.  Meaning, free-to-play was born from a number of problems, but it’s always been a bit out there on it’s own, at least in the way of “found on my console.”  Free-to-play and the microtransaction business model have fought a long and hard fight, and it looks like they might now be ready for prime time.  If this in fact the case, and if Nexon has broken into the console market, how long will it be before Zynga strikes a deal, and Wii, PS3, and Xbox owners can farm direct from their console?

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A Bit Lucky lands $5M in additional funding; led by Nexon

March 23rd, 2011

Social games developer A Bit Lucky may be enjoying the luck by name only, as their pool of creative talent is obviously up to the challenge, at least in the minds of investors. With only one title out to date, Lucky Train, the Silicon Valley based developer has already garnered the attention of Accel Partners’ Seed Fund, Rembrandt Venture Partners, Blumberg Capital, SV Angel, The Founder Collective, Felicis Ventures, Charles and Kai Huang (Co-Founders of Red Octane), Mark Jung (Co-Founder and CEO of IGN), David Lawee (Head of M&A at Google), Joshua Schachter (Founder of Delicious), Lerer Ventures, and XG Ventures.

If the list reads like a who’s who, you’re not alone. And if the previous $2.6 million from the aforementioned investors was enough to get the ball rolling, free-to-play games developer and publisher Nexon has recently led a second round of funding for A Bit Lucky, resulting in an additional $5 million. Obviously an interesting move for Nexon, as this clearly signals their growing interest in Facebook based gaming. The question is, for the company the practically invented the free-to-play business model, are they a bit late to the Facebook/social gaming party? Perhaps not, as one of A Bit Lucky’s pillars is cross platform social games, with the emphasis being on the cross platform. Given that Lucky Train is one of the higher rated and favored games on Facebook, with the focus on cross platform, the additional audience and revenues via additional platforms is enormous. Furthermore, given Nexon’s scope and existing product offerings, porting them through to multi platform use could expand Nexon’s user base tenfold.

“A Bit Lucky is an exceptionally talented team making this a great investment,” said Daniel Kim, Nexon America’s CEO. “We’ve known Frederic for many years, and the whole team is very talented and understands the dynamics of the market very well. We consider ourselves very fortunate to be part of the trail that A Bit Lucky is blazing in the social media game space.”

From the executive standpoint, Nexon’s new investment also gives them a seat at the decisions table, i.e. the Board of Directors. Likewise, David Lawee (Google) and Andrew Trader (Zynga) will also now hold Board of Directors titles.

”We are very excited to get Nexon’s support to create the new generation of high quality, ubiquitous social games,” said Frederic Descamps, CEO of A Bit Lucky. “Nexon invented Free-To-Play and virtual goods in gaming and we are looking forward to benefiting from their expertise.”

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Japanese gaming contributes to disaster relief

March 23rd, 2011

As reported yesterday, social gaming giant Zynga has stepped up, in partnership with Save the Children, to donate proceeds from specialty items to support relief efforts in Japan.  But what about Japanese gaming firms?  While the entire country was not directly effected, clearly March 11th’s fall out has dramatic effects for the country as a whole.  Relief is pouring in from around the globe, but here’s a rundown of how the Japanese gaming landscape looks at present.

Square Enix took the lead when they decided to shut down Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV servers in order to conserve power.  Once offline, a number of other Japanese gaming firms followed suit, additionally announcing temporary suspensions of planned future activities including console games release dates, and maintenance and service upgrades for consoles, etc.

However, this does not mean the business-as-usual has halted completely, but rather, a number of firms are stepping up to the plate, and redirecting their tech efforts.  Below is an outline of who’s doing what, in alphabetical order with no preference given to any one relief effort program.

5pb

The firms Memories Off 6 T-wave for iPhone has seen a dramatic price reduction, down to 250 Yen (normally 2200), with all earnings presented to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

Accessport

Accessport’s “Farm Paradise” is modeling a similar program as Zynga, offering exclusive items with all monies going to the Japanese Red Cross Society.  The include:

  • Supportive Kennel – 100 Yen
  • Supportive Signboard – 200 Yen
  • Supportive Processing Plant – 300 Yen

Aeria

Aeria has looked to their graphics department, and is not offering unique and exclusive wallpapers.  All proceeds will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

BANDAI NAMCO

As of March 15th, the company has contributed 100 million Yen (approx. $1.2M) which will be donated to disaster relief in combination with private donations from company employees.

DeNa

DeNa is also offering exclusive items in Mbga Town and Yahoo! Mbga.  As of yesterday, March 15th, DeNA has contributed over 100 million Yen (approx. $1.2M) , and is continuing fundraising and donation efforts.

Dwango/Niwango

All ad revenues derived from NicoVideo have been donated directly to disaster relief funds.  All sub-site platforms continue to solicit donations.

Faith

Exclusive avatars are available in the Rose Online marketplace, with 100% of all earnings to be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

GP CoreEdge Inc.

Within Alteil.net, exclusive cards and avatars are now up for sale.  Earnings will be donated to disaster relief efforts.

Nexon Group

As of March 15th, the Nexon Group has donated 100 million Yen ($1.2M) to disaster relief efforts.

NHN Japan

Led by GACKT, a “Show your heart” campaign is underway with a number of high profile singers, entertainers and sports personalities lending a voice to encourage those that can to donate.

The company’s Dragon Nest title has stopped it’s DN-1 prize event, with the 10 million Yen now being donated directly to disaster relief efforts.

Nintendo

To date, the Nintendo Corporation has contributed 300 million Yen (approx. $3.7M) to disaster relief efforts.

Sankando

Simialr to other fundraising efforts, exclusive items sold within the M2 Online title will see their earnings donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

Signal Talk

All revenues generated on March 11th within Maru-Jan and Fukurofu have been donated to disaster relief funds.

TECMO KOEI Holdings

To date, the company has donated 10 million Yen.  This number is expected to rise, as the company is also taking an internal collection from staff members, as well as upping their own corporate contribution to support disaster relief efforts.

West Inc.

From their flagship title, “Tsumo,” half of the rewards offered in their ongoing mahjong contest, as well as all revenues gained from the in-game item store will be presented to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

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Nexon brings KartRider and MapleStory to the social and mobile world

March 23rd, 2011

Originator of the free-to-play model, Nexon has recently announced that they’re bringing their most popular titles, KartRider and MapleStory to the mobile and social world, respectively. KartRider Rush is targeted at iOS and Android platforms, while the classic side scrolling MapleStory Adventures will find a new home on Facebook. KartRider will arrive later this month (iOS), while MapleStory Adventures is set for a summer ’11 launch.

True to Nexon’s model, both titles will be free-to-play, and offer microtransactions as enhancements to the games, as well as provide a healthy revenue stream for Nexon. KartRider Rush will soon be a free iP (phone, pad, pod touch) app, with an Android based version arriving later this summer. KartRider Rush is a mobile/handheld version of KartRider; a title that counts a massive 200 million registered players worldwide. KartRider Rush features a multiplayer interface, allowing up to four players to race head to head on unique and challenging courses in both battle and time trial modes. If you’ve no friends to play with, fear not, as KartRider Rush also features a rich and engaging solo experience. Single player mode brings up a range of AI racers to square off against in Item Mode and Speed mode. Taking advantage of Facebook Connect, KartRider Rush fans can display their highscores and compare them against friends’ best lap times, etc. Nexon introduces the microtransactions in KartRider Rush via a variety of additional tracks all available for purchase.

On the Facebook front, Nexon brings the all-time classic, side scrolling, MapleStory (Adventures). Arriving this summer, Nexon has taken the already simple interface of MapleStory, and slimmed it down even further. MapleStory Adventures will provide the same MapleStory experience, only now on Facebook, as players are presented with a number of quests and challenges. Only now, they can ask for Facebook friend help in their trials and tribulations. Similar to the original MapleStory, Nexon will be offering microtransactions of the upgrade and in-game items variety.

“Expanding our global IPs into the social and mobile gaming space is a watershed moment in Nexon’s global expansion efforts,” said Daniel Kim, Nexon America’s CEO. “Not only will this move provide new ways for hundreds of millions of fans worldwide to experience Nexon’s games, it allows Nexon the opportunity to prove the robustness of its business model on new platforms.”

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Nexon awards Social Network Game Development program: Antic Entertainment and one2tribe receive benefits

March 15th, 2011

Hot on the heels of their 42 percent jump in Q4, Nexon America has recently announced the winners of their Social Network Game Development program, with it’s first recipients being Antic Entertainment and one2tribe. The two firms will share over $1 million in Nexon iNitiative development funding. The two are expected to develop new games for Nexon’s usage worldwide.

Started in the Spring of 2010, Nexon’s iNitiative program is designed to target and support new innovative game technology and projects that fold nicely into Nexon’s community based, long-term user goals. The idea is to find original, unique and forward looking video game efforts, and provide these studios with the necessary funding to help them reach these goals. This year alone, Nexon received 115 submissions from 26 countries around the globe. After a heavy scrutiny under the Nexon microscope, two firms have floated to the top: London, Ontario based Antic Entertainment and Poland based one2tribe.

“The Nexon iNitiative had many outstanding submissions,” said Won Il Sue, Nexon America’s vice president of business development in a statment. “Antic Entertainment and one2tribe presented truly innovative ideas that fit right into what we’re trying to do at Nexon. As recipients of the Nexon iNitiative funding, Antic Entertainment and one2tribe will be instrumental in expanding our catalogue and bringing Nexon games to new audiences.”

Founded in 2008, Antic Entertainment is based on London, Ontario, and focuses on building and publishing casual games for regular gamers. Founders Fredrik Liljegren, Mark Mikulec and Jeff Evans report that they’re hard at work on an unannounced social media game for Nexon.

On the other side of the pond, Polish studio one2tribe was founded in 2003 by Mojciech Ozimek and Aleksander Solecki, and is hailed for their innovative projects, including the fusion of several platforms including Xyber Mech and The Witcher: Versus. The firm has yet to announce any Nexon related plans … but that doesn’t mean that they’re not working on it.

Both firms will share in the $1 million prize, although distribution numbers were not provided. By accepting the funding, both firms are now committed to a co-developed Nexon project, which will later be published by the free-to-play giant. This distribution will effectively reach 71 countries around the world.

No launch or expected arrival dates have been announced, but if Nexon’s selection process is anything akin to their already published titles, it should be quite interesting to see what these two now-funded studios have in store for us.

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