Nexon chief Owen Mahoney explains deal with Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski (interview)

Nexon, the Asian online gaming giant, is known for free-to-play online games like MapleStory, KartRider, and Dungeon Fighter Online. Those are popular titles, but they haven’t made Nexon into a household name in the West. To accomplish that, the pioneer of free-to-play titles has turned to well-know Western game developers.

Tokyo-based Nexon is working on its own internal online, social, and mobile games. But it has also cut publishing deals with prominent external developers, including one with Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski (you can read about why he choose Nexon here), who recently started a PC first-person shooter game at his new studio Boss Key Productions. Nexon is also funding titles from Splash Damage, whose Dirty Bomb first-person shooter for the PC arrives this fall. It is also working with Brian Reynolds, creator of Rise of Nations and former chief game designer at Zynga, on a new mobile strategy game at his SecretNewCo.