Pitched as a way to strengthen its assault on smartphones, Korean publisher Nexon has announced it is to merge with Nexon Mobile in the coming weeks.

The deal, which is set to be completed by April, will see the two companies co-ordinate their operations, with Nexon's IP set to be utilised in Nexon Mobile's smartphone output.

It's something that can already been seen on the App Store in the shape of free-to-play shooter Combat Arms: Zombies, which is based on Nexon's popular online shooter.

Next move for Nexon

"The measure was put in place to focus on the growth of the mobile business with Nexon’s intellectual property, competitiveness of global businesses and the infrastructure," said Nexon CEO Min Seo.

"Considering that the highly growing platforms in the worldwide gaming industry are online games and mobile, mobile is projected to become a core portion of our business. This is why we plan to unify our mobile organisation and make more active use of Nexon's IP and give more weight to overseas projects."

Nexon was founded in Seoul in 1994, but is now based in Japanese capital Tokyo, where it floated on the stock exchange in late 2011. Nexon Mobile, meanwhile, began life in September 2001.

The new unified company will launch around 10 games on smartphones this year, it has claimed, though no specific titles or formats have been mentioned.

[source: The Korea Herald]