DeNA has been anything but shy when it comes to spreading its social base around the globe of late.

In the last few months alone, the Japanese firm has been on an acquisition spree, moving for Punch Entertainment in Vietnam and Chile-based Atakama Labs.

Its operations closer to home haven't been neglected either, however, with an expansion to its operations in China and Korea quickly followed by a deal with MapleStory studio Nexon.

Maple matters

Based in Korea, the studio has agreed a partnership with DeNA that will see the latest game in its series launch on the firm's Mobage platform in Japan for free.

Dubbed MapleStory: Bokurano Boken (Japanese for Our Adventures), DeNA's claims new title was built from the ground up for mobile and, though no specifics have been given, could well make the leap to smartphones in the west in the future.

"The original MapleStory is a PC-based side-scrolling action MMORPG where players develop their characters and explore a beautiful world full of thrilling combat and mystical, colourful enemies," says DeNA of the franchise.

"In the new title, players create characters and venture into the MapleStory-themed world and battle against monsters in collaboration with other players."

Nexon claims more than 100 million users have signed up for the original game in 60 different countries. 18 million of those registered are based in South Korea, with a further 4 million playing out of Japan.



[source: DeNA]