Nexon announces development of long-awaited sequel, The Kingdom of the Winds 2

The game publisher announced that the sequel to The Kingdom of the Winds in in development, 28 years after the release of its first-ever title.

Nexon Korea Co-CEO Kim Jung-wook during Wednesday's Next On Media event held in Pangyo, Gyeonggi [CHO YONG-JUN]

Nexon announced the development of The Kingdom of the Winds 2 on Wednesday, the sequel to its first-ever release 28 years ago.

The game publisher did not specify the release period of the game, explaining that the “game release period changes frequently” when internal test results fail to meet the company’s standards.

A scene from a trailer shown at the announcement of Nexon's The Kingdom of the Winds 2 [CHO YONG-JUN]

The Kingdom of the Winds, which was rolled out in 1996, is the longest running massively multiplayer online role-playing game in the world. The upcoming game is being made by Supercat, which previously developed The Kingdom of the Winds: Yeon, a mobile spinoff of the series.

The Kingdom of the Winds 2 will feature 2.5D graphics — a combination of two-dimensional graphics seen in the original game combined with three-dimensional models — to both please longtime fans and new gamers, according to Nexon.

“The game maintains the element of the oriental fantasy [seen in the original game]; it will feature a familiar yet new storyline,” Nexon Korea co-CEO Kang Dae-hyun said during Wednesday’s Next On press conference held at the company’s headquarters in Pangyo, Gyeonggi.

The announcement was made in relation to Nexon’s attempt to expand its existing game franchises as the game publisher celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

Nexon unveiled that Dungeon & Fighter: ARAD will be the name of its upcoming open-world action role-playing game, currently in development by Nexon Games. The game, based on Unreal Engine 5, will be available on PC, console and mobile platforms with plans for a global release.

Those not familiar with the original game will be able to enjoy the ARAD despite being based on Dungeon & Fighter’s fictional universe, according to Nexon.

Nexon also announced that the company will be showcasing five upcoming games at the G-STAR 2024 game festival, set to be held in Busan from Nov. 14 to Nov. 17. Supervibe, Project Overkill, The First Berserker: Khazan and Gensei Online will be available for a gameplay demo while Arc Raders, a third-person multiplayer shooter game developed by Embark Studios, will only have a gameplay video screened.

Notably, there will be 140 playable PCs each for Supervibe and Project Overkill, with Supervibe supporting a 20-player online multiplayer demo on-site.

The company will also host a special 30th-anniversary orchestra on Nov. 16 at the G-STAR venue, featuring iconic game sounds from MapleStory, Mabinogi, KartRider and more.

As Nexon celebrated the company’s 30th anniversary, the co-CEOs also had time to look back at the publisher’s past mistakes. Co-CEO Kim Jung-wook said that Nexon was aware of criticism the company has been receiving over the years and wanted to change the view in the future.

“The game industry is in a difficult position in general and I think the decrease in earnings is a result of a decrease in the quality of the games we service,” co-CEO Kang said. “And I think we have a set line in game quality that we must adhere to. We will not be executing layoffs that can affect that [quality].”

With the planned releases and games currently in development, Nexon was also confident of reaching the 7 trillion won ($5.07 billion) in yearly revenue it vowed to achieve by 2027.

“It’s definitely an ambitious goal, but I think it’s a very viable goal if we initiate the road map we have shared today,” co-CEO Kang said.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]