Aeria Games Acquires ijji Games in Conjunction With Investment Funding From NHN Corporation

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aeria Games, a leading destination for free-to-play online multiplayer games, today announced it has acquired ijji Games LLC, a popular free-to-play online gaming portal, from NHN Corporation as part of a strategic agreement that gives Aeria Games the first right with preferential treatment to publish NHN online games worldwide outside of Asia. Under the terms, Aeria Games also received a financial investment from NHN to further fuel growth as a global MMO market leader. The agreement boosts the company’s fast growing player base to over 35 million unique users worldwide while adding complementary titles including the popular shooters Alliance of Valiant Arms (A.V.A.) and Soldier Front to Aeria Games’ robust portfolio of free-to-play games for mid- to hard-core players.

“The acquisition of ijji Games further enhances our market leader position in the rapidly consolidating free-to-play sector of mid- and hard-core gaming”

Aeria Games is a global leader in producing high quality online free-to-play games in North America, Latin America, and Europe. The company publishes titles that cater to players looking for a deeper and more immersive multiplayer experience with active community support. Aeria Games’ rapid growth comes from its expertise in delivering highly profitable freemium experiences to what it terms “power players”—hard-core and medium-core players whose average per day play sessions reflect four hours or more. Aeria Games hosts a diverse and rapidly growing portfolio of over 30 critically-acclaimed MMO titles spanning action, roleplaying, shooter, real time strategy, and racing games. The company is recognized for standout games including the MMO Eden Eternal, the popular MMORPG Shaiya, the supernatural MMOFPS Wolf Team, the expansive strategy game Golden Age and the upcoming action shooter Repulse.

“The acquisition of ijji Games further enhances our market leader position in the rapidly consolidating free-to-play sector of mid- and hard-core gaming,” said Lan Hoang, Chief Executive Officer, Aeria Games. “In addition to outstanding new content such as the popular A.V.A. and Soldier Front games and other quality titles from NHN going forward, NHN’s investment—which is our first external funding—will provide resources to facilitate our continuing growth and business expansion in multiple areas.”

With 300 employees worldwide, the California-based company continues to invest in emerging markets such as Latin America, Eastern Europe and Russia while growing its active community in the US and Western Europe. With its focus on first-person shooters, ijji Games adds over 10 million hard-core gamers to Aeria Games’ publishing platform for a combined user base consisting of over 35 million unique power players. Using advanced analytics and committed worldwide customer support, Aeria Games is able to bring quality games to market quickly with full local language support. In turn, Aeria Games’ community fuels development with extended play sessions and in-game purchase levels that are much higher than those yielded by typical online and social network games.

With content partnerships from top game companies such as Electronic Arts and NHN, as well as a host of independent developers from around the world, Aeria Games continues to add high-quality content to its portfolio. The publishing organization offers developers all the necessary tools—from a large established player base, a single virtual currency, data warehouse and analytics, optimized payment options, to local marketing and customer service—to quickly and efficiently distribute games to key fast growing Western markets. As consolidation continues in the dynamic free-to-play sector, Aeria Games will utilize the additional resources from NHN to strengthen its position as a truly device-agnostic platform for mid- to hard-core gamers by expanding its content and platform offerings and growing its international footprint.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. For more information on Aeria Games, visit http://www.aeriagames.com.

About NHN Corp.

NHN Corporation (KOSPI: 035420) was established in 1999 and is currently the leading multi-national internet company in Korea, operating internet search portal and gaming services in Korea and Japan. Its products include Naver, Korea’s largest search portal with more than 17 million unique daily visitors, and leading Korean portal Hangame, which brought 422 million USD in revenue in 2010 from over 30 million registered users. For more information, please visit http://www.nhn.com/nhnen/.

About Aeria Games

With a rapidly growing community of over 35 million core players and a deep portfolio of development partners, Aeria Games is a leading destination for free-to-play online multiplayer games. Founded in 2006 and with offices in the US, Germany, and Brazil, Aeria Games publishes and develops high quality online games in nine languages - English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Italian, Turkish and Russian - covering more than 30 countries. The company’s proprietary technology offers strong benefits to both players and developers. Players gain access to a universal gaming destination providing deep, immersive online games accessible from PC, browser, tablet, and smart phones. Developers get a blazingly fast point of entry to the global gaming market via Aeria Games’ specialized platform that enables quick and easy game integration. The company’s diverse portfolio includes highly engaging fantasy MMORPGs, action shooters, anime-style social games, and multiplayer mobile titles. For more information, visit http://www.aeriagames.com.

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