Nexon, the creators Maplestory, have made the difficult decision of closing two offices in the U.S. in an effort to restructure the company.
Nexon Co., Ltd was founded in South Korea in 1994 and its first game, Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds, became an instant hit. In fact, updates and servicing are still taking place to this day. While the company went on to create many great titles, it wasn’t until the release of Maplestory in 2003 that its profits really took off.
On the surface, Maplestory was a simple free to play side-scrolling MMO. However, it didn’t take long for the game to captivate millions of users thanks to its ever-changing environment and combat system. Nexon would earn $300 million dollars in just three years after its release due to the implementation of a real-money item shop. The company’s earnings continued to grow, as it eventually grossed 1.8 billion in sales by 2011. As Maplestory continues to grow, it appears that Nexon is making moves to restructure its company for the future.
It’s hard to imagine that Nexon is having any financial troubles given the amount of money that it earns each year off of Maplestory alone, but it’s a good sign that the company is being proactive despite its financial gains. Too often are there stories about gaming developers going bankrupt because they didn’t act soon enough.
According to Games Industry, the company closed one of its offices in Los Angeles, which was its second office closure in the area in less than a month. While the exact number of affected workers isn’t known, Chris Jung, production manager for Nexon America, stated on Twitter that: “Due to a restructure at #Nexon America, they have closed the Division Partners Office in LA. A number of people, including myself, are now looking for new opportunities.”
Nexon commented that these actions were taken to consolidate its mobile and PC/console business in an effort to provide better support for both. The company went on to begin the process of acquiring Embark Studios, commenting that its newly acquired property will handle its western development strategy.
Nexon’s comments, as well as the fact that the company has acquired Embark Studios, speaks volumes about its confidence in Nexon America. If the statements are to be believed, it’s safe to say that the company didn’t feel that key members at Nexon America were fulfilling their duties in a satisfactory manner.
It’s never easy for a company to lay off seasoned employees, but it’s better to be proactive rather than reactive before its too late. Given how successful Nexon has been since the start, it’s hard to imagine that it didn’t give this a lot of thought.
