Nexon invests strategically in Patrick Söderlund's Embark Studios gaming studio



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The Asian giant of online games Nexon has made a strategic investment in Embark Studios, a new gaming studio founded by former CEO of Electronic Arts and DICE, Patrick Söderlund.

As the only strategic equity investor in Embark, Nexon, maker of games such as MapleStory and Dungeon & Fighter, will also serve as global publisher for the titles developed by the new company. Söderlund, CEO of Embark, has also been appointed to serve on Nexon's Board of Directors; the appointment will be ratified at Nexon's annual shareholders meeting in March 2019.

"I think games are about to change drastically, thanks to new technologies," Söderlund said in a statement. "Connected players, big data, speech recognition, cloud computing, advanced AI and so much more will open up new perspectives, allowing developers to create a wider range of experiences." and the players to create and contribute. Embark is a group of seasoned designers eager to go beyond current gaming experiences. "

Above: Patrick Soderlund, Executive Vice President of EA.

Image credit: Dean Takahashi

He added, "The partnership between Embark Studios and Nexon is based on a vision that is deeply aligned with the future of interactive entertainment and the challenging of standard design conventions and practices. In addition, Nexon's global leadership in developing communities and online gaming worlds for many years is critical to our mission. "

Headquartered in Stockholm, Embark has been established to develop new types of interactive entertainment and simulated virtual worlds, made possible by the huge advances in technology already made and future, in streaming, cloud computing and cloud computing. Artificial intelligence. The company will also build its own technology platform to optimize the new games and experiences that it will offer.

"Although the online gaming industry is very important, it's just beginning," said Owen Mahoney, CEO of Nexon, in a statement. "Today we are at a major point of inflection, with a very advanced artificial intelligence technology, a dynamic provisioning of computational power from the cloud and new options for computing. user interface now offered by multiple providers and at prices up to the consumer. What remains rare is the ability to create online virtual worlds that are extremely appealing and appealing to a large global audience that can grow for many years. The creation of Embark represents one of the most interesting developments for the future of online games. "

Embark will develop the next generation of online multiplayer worlds by leveraging both the proven track record of creating world-renowned franchises and Nexon's ability to develop live gaming worlds for generations. years, even decades. Nexon and Embark both believe that the next generation of online games will be a deeply immersive immersive reality, with persistence and profound consequences for players' actions.

Söderlund was the CEO of Stockholm-based DICE, acquired by Electronic Arts in 2006. Over the years, Söderlund has held a number of executive positions. He later became executive vice president of international studios and, more recently, director of design for the company. .

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