Recent Events: Combat Arms America and Europe Merge; Cyphers Shuts Down in China and Taiwan

So popping back to life at last there’s certainly been a heck of a lot which I’ve missed out on posting about. Two of those things are Combat Arms going transatlantic and the Chinese service of Cyphers being shut down.

As of June 30 2015, Combat Arms Europe and Combat Arms America have merged into a single service managed primarily by Nexon Europe. Both Nexon Europe and Nexon America accounts can now be used to log into the game. As it’s the pre-merge European client that is being used for this unified service, previous Combat Arms America players may notice some minor differences in game content due to prior localization differences. Servers for three regions (Europe, North America, Global) are available for play. The united service seeks to bring together Combat Arms’ 7 million European users and 6 million North American users so that Nexon can “provide the best possible service to the dedicated Combat Arms community” and will be available for play in English, German, Italian, Polish and Turkish. Nexon America appears to be keeping Combat Arms present on its game portal. The English website can be accessed at http://combatarms.nexon.net/.

This merge comes as both Nexon America and Nexon Europe are running the beta testing phases of brand new first-person shooter (FPS) games. Nexon America’s Splash Damage-developed Dirty Bomb is presently in its open beta phase (http://dirtybomb.nexon.net/) while Nexon Europe prepares the next beta test for Combat Arms: Line of Sight (http://calineofsight.nexoneu.com/en/).

Meanwhile, both the Chinese and Taiwanese services of 3D multiplayer online battle area (MOBA) game Cyphers Online have been shut down. The contract period between Nexon and respective publishers Tiancity and Gamania expired and were not renewed. The title from Nexon-owned studio Neople, the developers of Dungeon Fighter Online, strove to appeal to a similar base as the global phenomenon League of Legends but has clearly failed to connect as well as anticipated. The Korean service of the game enjoyed success for a period but its community has waned in recent times.

[CYP] Chinese Service of Cyphers Enters Open Beta on October 24

Nearly a year after the agreement for the publishing of action online game Cyphers in the massive Chinese market was announced, the game will enter open beta. Nexon’s longtime partner Tiancity (KartRider, Vindictus, Mabinogi, etc.) is handling the publishing.

Cyphers, which was first launched in Korea in 2011, was developed by Neople, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nexon and the developer of Dungeon&Fighter. Cyphers is a 3D MOACTION game that features dynamic battles and unique characters with groundbreaking superpowers. Cyphers’ Open Beta will offer a uniquely localized map, “The Bright Golden City,” based off of the theme of “The Forbidden City.”

“Cyphers is a reflection of Neople’s superior development expertise, and its exciting action and the fresh new play modes have been well-received by users in the Final Test which started on October 17. We expect that the game’s Open Beta will also be well-received,” said Mr. Cao Nian Bao, President of Tiancity.

“We are excited to continue moving forward with the development of Cyphers for China and our successful partnership with Tiancity,” said Seungwoo Choi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nexon Co., Ltd. “Cyphers has already been well-received in Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong and we are confident its momentum will continue in China.”

Cyphers is currently open in Korea (Nexon) and Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau (Gamania). I continue to lobby for its service in the West.

[CYP] Nexon and Tiancity Brining Cyphers To China

Nexon has been experiencing phenomenal growth and success of its games in China over the past couple of years and the company will be looking to continue the drive with the launch of Cyphers in the country next year. Nexon does not (and very highly likely will never) have a branch in China but Nexon has and continues to partner with the most successful online game publishers in the region to launch their games. Nexon’s games in China have brought both Nexon and the publishers massive success in the country. Those three Chinese publishers are Shanda Games, Tiancity and Tencent.

 

It has been announced that Nexon and Taincity have partnered to bring the action online game Cyphers to China. Cyphers is an arena-based action title developed by Neople, the same studio which developed the global blockbuster that is Dungeon Fighter Online. Cyphers tops the list of the most anticipated action games of 2012 in Korea and features innovative gameplay that combines strategy and combat with 5-on-5 group fighting, exciting action and breathtaking special effects. The game also features unique characters with groundbreaking superpowers, who inherit different appearances, backgrounds, temperaments, weapons and skills and fight for their own factions.

This announcement comes over seven months after the announcement of Cypher’s push into Taiwan, the website of which can be accessed at http://tw.beanfun.com/cyphers/.

[CYP] Cyphers Is Going To Taiwan!

Just days after Cyphers took the #1 spot in Msupdate’s Top 5 Nexon Games That Should Be Brought to North America, it has been announced that Nexon and Neople have partnered with premier Taiwanese publisher Gamania for the servicing of the game in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. I’ll have to edit out “Cyphers Online was launched in South Korea in early 2011 and has yet to be exported to any other market. Come on North America!” which was at the end of the Cyphers description in the top list.

Gamania is the number one game publisher in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau where they publish games like MapleStory, Dragon Nest, Counter-Strike Online, Kart Rider, Mabinogi, Atlantica, Dungeon Fighter Online, PopTag!, Sudden Attack, Lineage, GetAmped, Grand Chase and Elsword.

This is really great news and I really hope that we’ll see Cyphers being brought to America and Europe soon.

Gamania also publishes games in North America and Europe. They currently service Lucent Heart, are preparing for the launches of Divina and Koihime Musou and are re-developing Hero 108 Online. Gamania is also preparing the anticipated non-targeting graphically impressive action MMORPG Core Blaze for release in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, North America and Europe. Check Gamania out at http://us.beanfun.com/.

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