Nexon to encourage bold game development for success

[Courtesy of Nexon Co.]

South Korea’s game major Nexon Co. has internally introduced bold game development policies aimed at uncovering the next “DAVE THE DIVER,” regardless of profitability.

According to industry sources on Wednesday, Nexon has decided not to focus on key performance indicators (KPIs) for projects costing less than 100 billion won in game development this year.

The company aims to create mass-market games that appeal to everyone, regardless of genre or theme.

“Last year, DAVE THE DIVER performed beyond expectations, providing Nexon with a reassessment in the Korean gaming market dominated by massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs),” said a source familiar with Nexon’s business.

“Against this backdrop, Nexon has internally tasked a sector with not evaluating games based on KPIs to actively pursue the discovery of games in various genres, armed with unique character traits and captivating stories.”

The purpose is to actively encourage the development of small and medium-sized indie games, regardless of subject matter or genre, as long as they have a novel idea like DAVE THE DIVER.

DAVE THE DIVER is an ocean adventure game introduced by Nexon’s game sub-brand, Mintrocket, in June last year.

It stands as one of Nexon’s flagship titles, having surpassed 3 million units in cumulative sales, making it the first single-package game in Korea to achieve this milestone.

Notably, the game received acclaim both domestically and internationally, earning the title of Must Play on the game review site Metacritic, a first for a Korean game.