NoFrag

VALVe s'associe avec Nexon Japan Co. pour développer et distribuer Counter Strike Online, une version de CS conçue tout spécialement pour le marché asiatique. Les pays ciblés sont la Corée, le Japon, la Chine et Taiwan. Inutile de chercher plus d'informations dans le communiqué de presse, vous n'en trouverez pas.

Nexus a déjà développé trois petits jeux basés sur le même business model : des produits pas chers à développer, gratuits et générant de l'argent en vendant aux joueurs des items plus ou moins utiles : armes, vêtements, monnaie virtuelle, etc. Les jeux en questions sont :

• Maple Story : un RPG tout mimi avec sorciers, chevaliers et monstres rigolos.
• Kart Rider : un clone de Mario Kart en cell shading.
• Audition : un rhythm game à la Dance Dance Revolution.

Tous les titres de Nexus se déroulent dans des univers japaniais avec des personnages aux grosses têtes affublées de globes oculaires de la taille d'un oeuf d'autruche. Si CS:Online adopte le même style graphique, on a hâte de voir la tronche des terroristes.

Le communiqué de presse :

Award-winning game and technology studios Valve and Nexon today announce Counter-Strike Online, a new online version of the world's number one first-person multiplayer game that will be tailored for Asia.

Counter-Strike, first released in 1999, is the world's number one first person multiplayer game, generating over seven billion player minutes per month and having sold over nine million retail copies worldwide. Nexon is the Korean-based publisher and developer of blockbuster titles such as MapleStory and KartRider. Valve is the creator of many popular first person games and the Steam online platform for PC games.

Under the terms of the agreement, Nexon will develop and be the exclusive publisher for Counter-Strike Online in South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan. Services in Korea and Japan will be carried out respectively by its Korean and Japanese entities, NEXON Corporation (CEO: Joonmo Kwon) and NEXON Japan Co., Ltd. (CEO: David K. Lee), and in China and Taiwan through collaboration with local publishers.

"It is our utmost pleasure to be able to develop Counter-Strike Online with Valve," said David K. Lee, CEO of NEXON Japan Co., Ltd. "We will be devoting our expertise in online game development and service know-how for Asian territories to Counter-Strike Online. Already a global phenomenon, we are confident we can grow the success of Counter-Strike with this new product by tailoring the gameplay for the millions of gamers in Asia, one of the gaming industries fastest growing territories."

"With its hit titles such as MapleStory and KartRider, Nexon has become a dominant force in Asia," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "By combining their proven development abilities and leadership position in Asia with Counter-Strike's award-winning core gameplay, we have the recipe for customizing an online phenomenon for each of the Asian markets."