WeMade Entertainment

Last updated

Wemade
Native name
위메이드
TypePrivate company
Industry Video games
Founded2000
FoundersKwan Ho Park
Headquarters
Seongnam
,
South Korea
Key people
Henry Chang (CEO)
Products The Legend of Mir series
Total assets Increase2.svg KRW₩ 289,899,962,202 (2010) [1]
Number of employees
452 (3/31/2010)
Website www.wemade.com

Wemade Co., Ltd (formerly Wemade Entertainment Co., Ltd [2] ) is a South Korean video game developer, based in Seongnam. They are the creators of the Legend of Mir series of MMORPGs, the two most successful being The Legend of Mir 2 , and its sequel The Legend of Mir 3 . Legend of Mir has attracted over 120 million users in Asia, and generated over $65 million a month in revenue during its height. Even today, in its ninth year of operation, Legend of Mir 2 still generates well over $20 million a month in China alone.

Contents

According to Forbes, Wemade's founder, Kwan Ho Park, has a net worth of $1.2 billion, as of October 19. [3]

History

Wemade was founded on February 10, 2000, by the original Legend of Mir developers. They chose the name WeMade Entertainment to acknowledge a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by their South Korean publishing partner Actoz against the Chinese game operator Shanda. Shanda had copied Legend of Mir under the name The World of Legend, prompting the lawsuit. In choosing their company name, the developers were making the point that “We made Legend of Mir”. Shanda settled the lawsuit by acquiring Actoz and operating it as Shanda Korea.

In 2007, WeMade Entertainment's CEO and founder Kwan-Ho Park hired Kevin “Sookiel” Seo as co-CEO to turn the development company into a publisher and operator of online games in South Korea. Mr. Seo was formerly the CEO of Actoz/Shanda Korea. The company grew from 300 to close to 600 employees as it expanded to provide full hosting services in South Korea.

Today, WeMade Entertainment Co. Ltd. hosts and operates several games in South Korea. This includes games developed by Wemade such as Legend of Mir 2, Legend of Mir 3, Master of Fantasy and Chang Chun (aka Three Kingdom Chronicles). In addition, Wemade also hosts games from other developers including Chaps Online, Tartaros and Avalon. Wemade continues to license these games to other operators in other global territories. Shanda operates Legend of Mir 2 and Chang Chun in Greater China, while Softworld operates Mir 2 in Taiwan. GameFactory operates Rumble Fighter in the US and Europe.

In the summer of 2008, Wemade established its U.S. headquarters in the Seattle, Washington area. WeMade Entertainment USA, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the South Korean entity. Headed up by CEO Kisung Kim, the US company is responsible for the Western Games market including Europe and the Americas.

WeMade Entertainment USA, Inc. is currently hosting the North American servers of Lost Saga , a game developed by I.O. Entertainment. It initially planned to transfer accounts from OGPlanet Lost Saga to the new servers (although the accounts were never made available to them to do so) and the game was fully released on May 2, 2013.

On November 20, 2013, WeMade Entertainment USA announced from the North America Lost Saga homepage, that they will be ending Lost Saga's service in North America on December 8, 2013. No answer or reason was given as to why WeMade USA is ending its service of Lost Saga, though there have been rumors. Currently, the company Z8Games will be resuming Lost Saga's services in the North America region on December 18, 2013. With the change of services, all of the content obtained while under WeMade USA's service will transfer over when Z8Games resumes when the Lost Saga servers come online, with the transfer period being from December 9 through December 17, 2013. Further information regarding how the transfer will work is currently unknown.

In November 2020, Wemade released Mir 4 in South Korea. The game was made available globally, across 170 countries in 12 languages, on August 26. [4]

In May 2022, Wemade made a strategic investment in Froyo Games - a Singapore-based GameFi platform that is co-developing play-to-earn titles with iCandy Interactive. [5]

In November 2022, Wemade has announced that its investment round raised $46 million from a number of companies, including Microsoft. Microsoft has invested $14.8 million in Wemade by purchasing convertible bonds. [6]

In January 2023, Wemade launched its MMORPG MIR M: Vanguard & Vagabond (MIR M) in more than 170 countries. [7]

WeMade FOX

From 2007 to 2011, WeMade Entertainment operated a professional gaming team called WeMade FOX that maintained high-ranking Counter-Strike , StarCraft: Brood War and Warcraft III players. Sponsored by Pepsi, Skechers, GomTV and Mizuno, WeMade FOX possessed several high-earning players including NaDa and Jang Jae "Moon" Ho. On August 31, 2011, the team was officially shut down, with the former players placed in the care of KeSPA, until new sponsors were to be found. [8]

Related Research Articles

Mythica was a never-released massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on Norse mythology. It was under development by Microsoft Game Studios (MGS) for Windows-running PCs until it was cancelled in early 2004. The game had been under development for over two years and had a development staff of forty at the time of cancellation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NCSoft</span> South Korea-based video game developer and publisher

NCSoft Corporation is a South Korean video game developer and publisher headquartered in Pangyo, Seongnam, South Korea, primarily known for the distribution of massively multiplayer online role-playing games such as Lineage and Guild Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mythic Entertainment</span> Defunct video game developer

Mythic Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Fairfax, Virginia that was most widely recognized for developing the 2001 massively multiplayer online role-playing game Dark Age of Camelot. Mythic was a prolific creator of multiplayer online games following its establishment in the mid-1990s.

<i>The Legend of Mir 2</i> 2001 video game

The Legend of Mir 2 is a sprite-based isometric 3-D massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Korean-based WeMade Entertainment. There are currently two versions available: Korean Mir and Chinese Mir. The European version came to a close on 31 March 2009, after running for 8 years, and the North American version came to a close on 14 May 2012.

Gravity Co., Ltd. is a South Korean video game corporation primarily known for the development of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Ragnarok Online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sammy Corporation</span> Developer and retailer of pachinko machines

Sammy Corporation is a Japanese developer and retailer of pachinko and pachislot machines, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its South Korean office, Sammy Amusement Service, is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Sammy is a subsidiary of the entertainment conglomerate Sega Sammy Holdings.

Shanda Group is a privately-owned multinational investment firm. With offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, New York and Redwood City, the firm invests in public markets, real estate and venture capital, focusing on companies in the fields of healthcare, financial services, media, and technology. The company was established in December 1999 as Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited, an online gaming company known for publishing and operating games such as The World of Legend and Magical Land. By 2004 Shanda was the largest online game company in China, and its listing on the NASDAQ that year under ticker SNDA was the largest IPO for a Chinese internet company in the United States. Shanda Interactive later diversified and its gaming unit spun off in 2009, raising $1.04 billion in an IPO (GAME). Shanda Group was taken private in 2012 by its founders, and by 2017 it had $8 billion in net assets under management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asiasoft</span>

Asiasoft is an online game operator in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. Its headquarters is located in Bangkok, Thailand. Asiasoft's services are primarily operated within Southeast Asia.

Nexon Co., Ltd. is a video game publisher. It publishes titles including MapleStory, Dungeon & Fighter, Sudden Attack, and KartRider. Headquartered in Japan, the company has offices located in South Korea, the United States, Taiwan and Thailand.

<i>La Tale</i> Video game

La Tale is a 2D side-scrolling online game developed by South Korean studio Actoz Soft. Gamers take the role of adventurers in a mythological fantasy world with three continents, Jiendia, Freios, and Eastland.

The history of massively multiplayer online games spans over thirty years and hundreds of massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) titles. The origin and influence on MMO games stems from MUDs, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and earlier social games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Video games in China</span> Overview of video gaming in China

The video game industry in Mainland China currently is one of the major markets for the global video game industry, where more than half a billion people play video games. Revenues from China make up around 25% of nearly US$100 billion video game industry as of 2018, and since 2015 has exceeded the contribution to the global market from the United States. Because of its market size, China has been described as the "Games Industry Capital of the World" and is home to some of the largest video game companies. China has also been a major factor in the growth of esports, both in player talent and in revenue.

OGPlanet was a publisher of free-to-play, massively multiplayer online (MMO), downloadable PC games, based in Torrance, California, with offices in Vancouver, Berlin, London and Seoul. Although their games were free-to-play, OGPlanet offered "Astros", an in-game currency that players could purchase online through Xsolla using a variety of payment methods including credit and debit cards and PayPal; Astros were used for in-game enhancements. On 29 September 2017, the final game being published by OGPlanet, Uncharted Waters Online, was shut down for transfer to Papaya Play and the OGPlanet website taken offline.

NDOORS Corporation is a Korean gaming corporation and developer of online games and MMORPGs and is a subsidiary of one of the world's largest online gaming companies, Nexon. Its headquarters are located in Seoul, South Korea. NDOORS Corporation first started out as "Intizen co., Ltd" in September 1999, but later changed their name in October 2004 to "Ndoors Corporation." On January 18, 2006, NDOORS Corporation took over Koong Entertainment which meant that NDOORS not only would be able to create PC Games, but PSP2 and PSP console games as well. The current CEO of NDOORS Corporation is Cho, SeongWon. The NDOORS logo can be simplified as "Distinction, Sympathy, and Expansion."

Lost Saga was a free-to-play 3D fighting game developed by I.O. Entertainment. The game featured characters from science fiction, culture, and real-world history, and offered players the ability to switch characters on the fly to improve gameplay, combinations, and the overall combat experience.

Shengqu Games is a publisher and operator of online games based in Shanghai, China. Founded in 1999 as Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited, it spun off from Shanda Interactive in 2009 and is currently owned by Zhejiang Century Huatong. Shanda's published and operated games include AION, MapleStory, The World of Legend, The Age, Magical Land, Ragnarok Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online, Crazy Arcade, GetAmped and Final Fantasy XIV among others.

Eyedentity Games, Inc. is a South Korean developer of online games founded in 2007. The studio's first game is the commercially successful fast-paced action MMORPG, Dragon Nest. Eyedentity Games was acquired by Chinese digital entertainment company Shanda Games in September 2010.

I.O. Entertainment was a South Korean-based Developer of Lost Saga and Survival Project. I.O. Entertainment's Survival Project was developed prior to November 2001, and was officially released in 2003. I.O. Entertainment's second game, Lost Saga was developed, and released independently on February 26, 2009, and continues to be updated as the source version of the game with occasional updates.
On March 24, 2011, Joymax announced the acquisition of I.O. Entertainment.

The Pinkfong Company previously known as SmartStudy and Smart Books Media, is a global entertainment company. Their brands and intellectual property include Pinkfong and Baby Shark, and they have produced original animated shows, world live tours and interactive video games. On January 6, 2022, they changed their corporate name from Smart Study to The Pinkfong Company.

Astellia is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Korean Studio 8.

References

  1. ↑ "2010 Annual Report". Wemade Entertainment. December 31, 2010.
  2. ↑ Wemade Co Ltd (112040.KQ). Reuters
  3. ↑ Kang, John. "Blockchain-Based Game Boost Shares Of Korean Game Maker, Founder Becomes Billionaire". Forbes. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Wemade Co., Ltd. Announces Global Grand Opening of MIR 4". www.businesswire.com. August 12, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Mir4 developer Wemade backs SG play-to-earn platform". Tech In Asia. May 31, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Microsoft has invested in a Korean blockchain game company". VGC. November 2, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Wemade's New MMORPG 'MIR M: Vanguard & Vagabond' Launches Worldwide". www.businesswire.com. January 31, 2023. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  8. ↑ Marius "LML" Zächer (August 23, 2011). "WeMade drops FOX". GosuGamers.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.