EVE Online Launches in Japan March 28, 2012

[keithlewis]

EVE Online Launches in Japan March 28


CCP Games and Nexon Co., Ltd. (3659:Tokyo), announced today that they will launch the much-anticipated localized Japanese version of CCP’s massively multiplayer science-fiction game, EVE Online, on March 28 (March 29, Tokyo time).

Japanese players will now be able to access EVE Online in their native language, playing alongside hundreds of thousands of fellow gamers from around the world who share the single-shard EVE Online universe hosted on CCP’s Tranquility server. CCP will continue development of the game itself and handle gameplay related customer support, while Nexon will manage all billing needs, along with local marketing and PR services to drive player growth within the region.

CCP’s announcement with Nexon continues a steady drumbeat of international expansion. CCP announced last week a partnership with online game operator TianCity to distribute EVE Online in mainland China. EVE Online also supports play in English, Russian and German.

With more than 400,000 global subscribers, EVE is the only MMO to have grown every year in the past eight years since its launch. The worldwide success of EVE Online has driven CCP’s rapid growth, with offices in Reykjavik, Shanghai, Atlanta, and Newcastle, UK, and two new games in development, DUST 514 and World of Darkness.

"For years we’ve looked forward to the day when we could bring a fully Japanese EVE experience to our loyal and enthusiastic audience in Japan," said Hilmar Pétursson, CEO, CCP. "Thanks to our partnership with Nexon, that day is about to arrive. Nexon’s solid reputation and enormous reach in the region makes them the ideal partner for our Japanese launch."

"With EVE Online, CCP has created a gaming experience like no other,” said Seung-Woo Choi, CEO of Nexon. “We're confident that the Japanese version will attract legions of new players ready to take their part in the endlessly unfolding drama of the EVE universe."

In partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment, CCP’s revolutionary persistent shooter, DUST 514, is scheduled to launch in summer 2012. It will be the first-ever video game to link, in real time, first-person-shooter players on a console with a persistent, multiplayer game on the PC, EVE Online.