South Korea’s Nexon Co., which celebrates its 30th anniversary in December 2024, is expected to expand its overseas presence with hit games such as “MapleStory” and develop new intellectual properties (IPs) as the company aims to become a global gaming powerhouse.

It also began development on a sequel to “Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds,” its first-ever title and one of Korea’s earliest online games.

Nexon aims to achieve 7 trillion won ($5.1 billion) in annual revenue by 2027. The plans were unveiled by Nexon’s co-Chief Executive Officers Kang Dae-hyun and Kim Jung-wook, at the “NEXT ON” media event held on Wednesday.

Founded in 1994 by the late Kim Jung-ju, Nexon released its first game, “Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds” in 1996, leading Korea’s gaming industry since.

Despite the industry’s downturn, Nexon has maintained a strong performance in contrast to industry trends such as NCSoft Corp.’s recent restructuring.

“Starting from a small office in Yeoksam-dong 30 years ago, Nexon is now a major corporation on the brink of achieving 4 trillion won in annual revenue, accounting for 18 percent of Korea’s game industry sales,” Kim said.

Nexon’s Japan subsidiary achieved record-breaking sales in 2023 that totaled 423.4 billion yen ($2.8 billion), and saw a 6 percent on-year increase in sales in the first six months of 2024 to 230.9 billion won, aided by popular games like “Dungeon & Fighter Mobile” in China.

Nexon has also successfully launched games such as “Dave the Diver” and “The First Descendant,” which are attracting attention in overseas markets.

Nexon announced 12 new IP titles to be released sequentially from next year onward, intending to leverage its 30 years of game development and service expertise.

Kang noted that the company will develop new games based on its iconic IPs such as “MapleStory,” “Dungeon & Fighter,” “Mabinogi,” and “Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds,” including an official sequel, “The Kingdom of the Winds 2.”

He added that Nexon plans to expand these IPs into various entertainment sectors, such as webtoons and music.

Nexon has previously held concerts featuring Mabinogi’s background music and created a webtoon based on mapleStory.

Nexon is also implementing a “Big and Little” strategy, separating large- and small-scale projects to streamline development.

The company introduced major games such as the zombie apocalypse game, “Last Paradise” and “Project DX” based on the “Durango” IP, while promoting innovative smaller projects through Mintrocket, an in-house brand recently upgraded to an independent subsidiary.

Nexon is also focusing on overseas markets with new IPs, including the upcoming shooter, “ARC Raiders” and the subculture game, “Project RX.”

Nexon is expanding its publishing portfolio as well, overseeing the service of “Supervibe,” developed by U.S.-based indie game studio Theorycraft Games, in Korea and Japan.

Nexon Japan is on track to achieve nearly 4 trillion won in consolidated annual sales this year.

Lee Jung-hun, chief executive officer of Nexon Japan, reiterated in a Spetember 2024 briefing that the company is aiming to achieve 7 trillion won in annual sales by 2027.

For its part, Nexon will participate as the main sponsor of the G-Star 2024 gaming exhibition from November 14th to 17th where it will showcase and demo five new games in a large 300-booth exhibit.

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