Nexon Korea on Thursday announced seven titles for the second half of 2019, including a couple of mobile games that are handheld versions of original PC games that may be held in special regard for millennials.

Talesweaver M and The Kingdom of the Winds: Yeon are mobile versions of online PC games that forged the company’s reputation and led its sales in the 1990s.

Millennials, who were elementary and middle school students then who have now grown into their late-20s and 30s, are the biggest target audience, said Seo Yong-seok, deputy division manager of Nexon Korea. Seo added that the company expects a bigger pool of players, however, due to the flourishing “newtro” trend -- a portmanteau of “new” and “retro” -- that casts promising signs that younger players will also find the game’s 2D graphics attractive.

 

The mobile versions of the games will carry on the feel of the originals, with only minimal upgrades to graphics.

In addition to Talesweaver M and The Kingdom of the Winds: Yeon, Nexon is also working on new mobile role-playing games Counterside and MapleStory Odyssey, KurtzPel, an online game that will be published in Korea through Nexon, and Revisions: Next Stage and Ark Resona, two games based on Japanese licenses to target the neighboring country’s market.

When asked if it was a defeat for the game company that it failed to meet some deadlines it had set for itself for its first-half launches, Seo said that while some could view it as failure the company saw it as part of a growing process. 

“Rather than hasten the launch we decided to focus on making games that meet our standards and expectations,” Seo said. He referred to The Kingdom of the Winds: Yeon, which was originally forecast to release some time in the first half of 2019. The game is now expected to launch after the summer, with a closed beta test scheduled for Aug. 21.

Nexon holds its Nexon Special Day each quarter to follow up on its launch promises and development process.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)