NHN USA, newly-founded stateside branch of Korean casual game company NHN, has officially announced the launching of their casual and social competitive game portal, Ijji.com.
Essentially an English version of the previously Korean portal hangame.com, launched in 1999 and reportedly the ranking Asian games destination with 170 million subscribers in China alone, ijji has launched with two of NHN's most popular premium titles,
Golf King and
Gunbound Revolution, a North American version of the popular turn-based artillery game.
Additional titles --
Pocket Masters, Gunster, and
KwonHo amongst them -- are listed as forthcoming as soon as late fall of 2006. The site is also host to a number of more casual puzzle and card games already currently available, as well as full chat and forum support for players.
In line with the model popular amongst Asian online titles, ijji's premium games are entirely free to download and play, but upgrades to the game, typically including avatar customization and weapon enhancements, are provided at cost to the player, at a current exchange of 10 ijji coins per US dollar.
"NHN believes the U.S. market is ready for a fun, high quality online game destination that addresses gamers who enjoy the social aspect of playing multiplayer games," said NHN USA CEO Tae-Sik Moon. "Everyone can find a title they like and express their personality to the friends they meet online."
