According to a foreign media report, NHN Corporation, which has recently sold off NHN Games to Webzen (NHN Games was a subsidiary of NHN Corp), is looking to buy Korean MMO developer, Eyedentity Games. The studio left its mark in the MMO industry after attaining a huge success with the launch of its maiden title, Dragon Nest, in Korea, Japan and China. I can vouch for the game’s initial success, having briefly researched on the game’s launch in those countries.
Apparently, NHN Corporation also failed in attempts to purchase developers such as Joymax (which was purchased by Wemade), Ndoors Interactive (which was purchased by Nexon) and CR-Space (which was purchased by Neowiz Games). An additional note, NHN Japan is currently hosting the Japanese server of Dragon Nest.
It is also interesting to note that Nexon, which is currently the publisher of Dragon Nest in Korea (and next year in North America), currently holds a 14% stake in Eyedentity Games. When quizzed about a possible takeover by Nexon, a representative said that there is currently no plan to fully buyout the studio. Eyedentity Games recently replied to the reports and confirmed talks are going on, but stressed that nothing is confirmed at this stage of time.
Here are how the current servers are published:
1. Korea – Nexon Korea
2. North America – Nexon America (coming 2011)
3. Japan – NHN Japan (said to have earned USD1.7mil in cash shop sales since June)
4. China – SNDA Games (reached a total of more than 600,000 con-current users at one point)
5. Taiwan – Gamania (coming soon)
In a unrelated news to this saga, I am so busy till I have totally no time to play my character on the China server (am level 27 now). The screenshots you see are some I have taken as I played… Hope I will be able to play more soon! It is definitely an addicting game!
