Nexon and Valve take aim at North America's MMORPG battlefield

In the beginning there were City Ville, Farm Ville, Fish Ville, Pet Ville and so many more… Beyond the "Ville" naming scheme, they all have one thing in common – they were games played via Facebook's social platform.

These games have become incredibly popular in a short time, causing many industry watchers and gamers to wonder about the secret to their success. All of the games are available through Facebook, but more than their predecessors, they were very successful at using social elements to attract more players and encourage people to play more often.

These games aren't just about killing time. They provide players with an opportunity to bond via social media.

Capitalizing on this wave, Korea's biggest game developer recently announced the open beta launch of "The Grinns Tale", their newest Facebook game. Grinns is an exciting role-playing game with detailed strategy features which take you to a Gothic art-styled fantasy land.

It will immense you in a world of mysterious towers filled with all kinds of scary monsters. Players have to battle their way up the towers to earn items, gather wealth, and win fame. For this quest, players have the option to choose from six different classes to populate their party of Grinns, which include ranged archers and magical clerics.

As for combat, it requires simple (but maybe repetitive) point-and-click action. However, you will also have to use your brain power, because strategy and teamwork from a player's party provide an intense and exciting battle experience. What's more, inviting Facebook friends along in "The Grinns Tale" adventures is easy and will make for a more immersive and enjoyable experience for players.

Nexon the developer of "The Grinns Tale" is most famous for its long list of engaging and addicting PC games. These include the world's biggest massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), Maple Story, and Sudden Attack, one of the largest and fastest first person shooter (FPS) games.

What truly makes Nexon a pioneer is, however, the fact that they created a business model around free-to-play online games. With the concept of microtransactions users have the option to purchase in-game items to enhance their experience while playing games for free.

For their next challenge, Nexon seeks to bring their success formula to the global arena. In order to enter the North American market, Nexon signed a new deal with Valve by bringing its free-to-play games to Steam, its social-distribution network. They've already released an MMO game called Vindictus under this partnership.

It will be interesting to see how Korea's largest game maker fares in the North American market. Nexon's CEO, Daniel Kim, says they can effectively provide their immersive content with Valve's strong distribution channel and large player community.

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So, are you ready for some massive multiplayer online role-playing games

About the author by Woosung Kang

Korean culture is the same as Chinese and Japanese? So many misperceptions rule when it comes to Korea, but there's one man who won't let any mix-ups slide- Woosung has been in the forefront of numerous campaigns designed to raise awareness of Korea in the United States.