video game industry Archives

Nexon – Kim Jung-ju Founded The Company While Pursuing A Doctorate At KAIST.

Pioneering in the world of digital entertainment, Nexon is a world-famous video game publisher. The company has brought several innovations into the gaming industry since 1994. For example, it was Nexon that first introduced a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in the world. The founders of the company are Kim Jung-ju and Jake Song and the current CEO of Nexon is Owen Mahoney. Though Nexon is famous all over the world as a Japanese enterprise, it was originally a South Korean venture in the gaming industry. At present, the headquarters of the company is based in Tokyo, Japan. Nexon has a very large market and it is the fourth largest online gaming company in Asia. The company offers video games for both PC and mobile users.

Foundation & Initial Expansion

In 1994, the two founders, Jung-ju and Song founded Nexon in Seoul, South Korea. Two years later, in 1996, the company published its first video game, Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds, which still today is available in the market. Many other titles followed this including QuizQuiz, Elance, Shattered Galaxy, and many more. After a few years, the company went into a mutual agreement with Solid Networks in 2000 and started its online gaming service in Japan. After a couple of years, the alliance with Solid Networks was dissolved and Nexon Japan Co., Ltd was formed as a subsidiary of the parent company. Though the company initially opened offices in South Korea and Japan, the games were available in several locations including Taiwan, China, Thailand, Brazil, Vietnam, Europe, Singapore, and North America.

As the Japanese market of Nexon was expanding very rapidly the company decided to move its location to Tokyo. So, in 2005 the company relocated its headquarters, but South Korea’s market was also operational. In the same year, the company also entered the American market and established NX Games Inc. In 2008, Nexon made a big acquisition when it acquired Neople Inc. Through this wholly-owned subsidiary, the company became the developer of Dungeon & Fighter which is one of the most popular video games in China. In 2009, the company changed its name from Nexon Corporation to Nexon.

Present Days

In 2010, the South Korean business of the company acquired two companies in a row. They are Ndoors Corporation and GameHi Co., Ltd. The Korean business changed its name from Nexon Corporation to Nexon Korea Corporation in 2011. Eventually, the company decided to go public and filed its IPO by the end of 2011. The IPO was the largest in Japan in that year and also the second-largest for a technology company that year worldwide. A few years later, Owen Mahoney became the CEO and President of the company.

Under the new leadership, the company eventually expanded to Taiwan in 2015. In 2016, the company acquired Big Huge Games in the United States followed by i Digital Connect Co., which eventually became Nexon Thailand Co., Ltd. Two more companies that have been acquired in recent years are Pixelberry Studios and Embark Studios AB. In 2020, Nexon showed interest to invest an amount of $1.5 billion in listed entertainment companies. But the company also announced that it doesn’t have any interest in acquiring the companies that it is investing in. Recently, AGBO, a film production company has sold a $400 million minority stake to Nexon which is currently valued at $1.1 billion.

The Man Behind The Success

Kim Jung-ju is a South Korean businessman and an investor. He co-founded the company, Nexon while pursuing a doctorate at KAIST. Nexon is currently the largest gaming company in South Korea and under Kim’s leadership, the company released many innovative developments that the world has witnessed for the first time. Unfortunately, Kim passed away at the age of fifty-four and before his death, he was receiving treatment for severe depression. When he died, he was the third-wealthiest person in South Korea.

Annasha

Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more

Chinese Govt to Put Digital Locks on PUBG to Restrict Young Players Under 13

News, start-up, Tech News / By Yashica Vashishtha

There have been rounds of rumours for quite some time now, that the multi-player battle online game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), will be banned soon in various countries due to the extra engagement of children on the game. But there had been no confirmation on the same ever, from any of the governments.

But now there is bad news for the Chinese young video game players, as Tencent has imposed a digital lock on the games like Honour of Kings and PUBG Mobile, for the children of age below 13. The children of the same age group, now, will have to ask their guardians to open the lock in order to play the game.

The Chinese gaming giant Tencent announced the new curbs for the underage video-game players, following the Chinese internet governance requirements, to restrain the gaming addiction in youth. The company had already imposed the screen time limit and other rules in order to restrict children from spending more time on games. Now, Tencent plans to double down the rules in order to prevent minors from accessing some of its games in China, to prohibit things like violence, information about gambling or pornography, national politics, or another damaging behaviour for the minors.

The digital lock will be based on facial recognition and player ID checks, such that it will identify the age of the player and restrict the access. The company has set up the barriers, as the Chinese governments have raised concerns about addiction and myopia in children. The government is also worried about the worsening sightedness and poor optical heath among minors, due to their indulgence in long-hour gaming habits.

For now, the digital lock will only work in 12 cities in China. The cross-platform game PUBG has been most criticised for the increased addiction among the video game players. The game is one of the fastest growing video game that is available to play on PCs, Xbox, as well as smartphones. PUBG hosts 100 players during a single game in real-time, which has been the biggest factor in the popularity of the game.

Last year, too, the Chinese Government had imposed a nine-month freeze on new video games for the same reasons, that ended in December, itself.

Yashica Vashishtha

Yashica is a Software Engineer turned Content Writer, who loves to write on social causes and expertise in writing technical stuff. She loves to watch movies and explore new places. She believes that you need to live once before you die. So experimenting with her life and career choices, she is trying to live her life to the fullest.

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