As the winter snows thaw, the great beasts of the tech world stir from their slumber, hungry for their next meal. And what a feast it would be, were Tencent to devour Nexon, the plump South Korean game developer behind the delectable Dungeon & Fighter and the Web 3 gaming phenomenon, MapleStory.
The rumor mill churns out whispers of a potential acquisition, with Tencent courting the family of Nexon’s late founder, Kim Jung-ju, who holds a 44.4% stake in the company via NXC Corp. The discussions, much like a Russian winter, are preliminary and cold, with no guarantee of a thaw.
But what a prize Nexon would be! A company with a market capitalization of $16.6 billion, ripe for the picking. Tencent’s ambitions in global gaming, once frozen by Chinese regulatory crackdowns, would be rekindled. The deal would secure long-term control over popular intellectual property and grant a firmer foothold in South Korea’s lucrative gaming market.
Alas, the path to true love is never smooth. The Kim family, having inherited control after the founder’s passing in 2022, has handed shares to the Korean government to cover inheritance taxes. The government, much like a hapless suitor, has been unable to offload its stake.
Tencent, undeterred by past failures, makes another attempt at wooing Nexon. In 2019, talks collapsed over pricing, but this new attempt follows a $1.3 billion investment in a new Ubisoft unit and a 10% stake in K-pop label SM Entertainment. The Chinese tech giant is also making overtures in the blockchain space, having signed a memorandum of understanding with Ankr to develop a suite of blockchain API services.
And so, we wait with bated breath, wondering if Tencent will succeed in its gaming gambit. Will Nexon fall prey to the tech giant’s advances, or will it remain a tantalizing prospect, forever out of reach? Only time will tell. 🤔
Read More
2025-06-13 15:02