The free-to-play model is increasingly popular in the MMO industry, and the powers that be at Nexon say there's a good reason for that -- in their case, at any rate.The free-to-play publisher has announced its revenues for last year, and it was very good news: "...worldwide revenues increased 56 percent last year, growing from 450.8 billion won [359.7 million USD] in 2008, to 703.6 billion won [561.4 million USD] in 2009. Additionally, Nexon America posted a 31 percent increase in revenues in 2009, as for the first time, non-Korean contributions accounted for the majority of Nexon's global revenue."
Nexon's CEO, Daniel Kim, says that their handling of the free-to-play model as applied to "very outstanding games" is responsible for their success: "Here at home, we have been able to fend off the tough times and continue growing our revenues while adding more and more players to our games. Going forward, Vindictus, Dragon Nest and Dungeon Fighter Online represent the next generation of free to play games that should appeal directly to gamers in North America."
