After pioneering the free-to-play space with their runaway hit ‘Maple Story’, it looks like Nexon has done it again with their first first-person-shooter, ‘Combat Arms’.  The company proudly announced yesterday that in just three months they’ve doubled their user base, now hovering at the two million player mark.  The game opened the public doors in October of 2008 in North America.

Citing the game’s intense, frontline, player-versus-player gameplay and exciting customization and community features as a reason for the explosion of Combat Arms on gamers’ radar, VP of Marketing Min Kim says, “Combat Arms really hits the mark with core FPS veterans playing alongside casual gamers.  This latest milestone is further evidence North American gamers want to play high quality, free-to-play games.”

Featuring an extensive range of character personalization, various combat modes, maps and weapons, Combat Arms has already undergone a number of changes and upgrades since reaching the 1M user mark.  In addition to the already added Rattlesnake, Sand Hog, and Waverider maps, Nexon has also chucked in a number of new game modes that offer free-to-play fans even more options.

Given Nexon’s free-to-play/microtransactions business model, ‘The Black Market’ (an interesting moniker choice) serves as the bread and butter of the game.  Nexon says that they’ve seen tremendous success with the in-game item shop, noting that a large number of combatants that are willing to pay for character customizations, thereby enhancing their gaming experience.  Some of the top sellers on The Black Market include the Elite Moderator item, which allows players to set up and host their own fully moderated games (God, is that you?); and mercenaries, alt characters that can be used to play in the place of the players standard character(s).  Naturally, The Black Market can hook your soldier up with a bit of battlefield bling including a number of gold plated assault rifles.  Personally, I’m holding out for a diamond and sapphire encrusted scope.

“With a host of interactive features and modes set in a completely free-to-play environment, Combat Arms is truly a leader in the online first-person-shooter genre and offers a one-of-a-kind gaming experience,” said Herb Yang, managing producer of Combat Arms. “As we celebrate, we are also looking forward to further shaping Combat Arms into a title that sets the tone for a whole generation of online FPS titles.”

While it seems like Combat Arms is indeed ‘king of the hill’ in the free-to-play/microtransaction based first person shooter genre, this news arrives on the same day that EA/DICE’s Battlefield Heroes sent out 4,000 beta keys, and lest we forget about Acony and their upcoming release of Parabellum.  Combat Arms wears the crown and holds court.  For now.  Stay tuned…..

Ed. note – Thanks for the tweets and emails – Looks like I forgot about Suba Games’ Cross Fire.  More on that tomorrow.