Nexon is pushing multiple live service titles through updates and events, with ARC Raiders free to play from October 8 to October 12, 2026 and the Frozen Trail update adding Pendula Pass. Mabinogi Mobile launches in Japan on October 7, 2026 for PC, Android, and iOS.
Nexon's recent coverage centers on release dates and live updates rather than new announcements. Mabinogi Mobile is the clearest case: after pre-registration opened in August and a Tokyo Game Show 2026 demo, the Japanese service was dated for October 7, 2026 on PC, Android, and iOS, free to play with item purchases. The TGS demo had already put a premade high-level character into Rabbie Dungeon and walked visitors through combat, dyeing, and rebirth at a Tir Chonaill-themed booth.
At the same show Nexon presented Fareidolia, formerly Project RX, as a playable demo from IO DIVISION, the studio behind Blue Archive. Its Live Turn Battle keeps enemies moving while the player decides, and voice recognition lets players call characters by name. Head Kim Yong-ha described it as an otherworld homestay loop of life at Tasogare-kan, deployment, and return. Release timing and service regions are undecided.
Elsewhere Nexon is running updates across existing titles. The First Descendant added Ultimate Hailey and the Cradle of Evolution dungeon on September 17, after Season 4 Episode 1 added Raven and the Karel's Ship Mega Dungeon in August. Sudden Attack: Zero Point began a Preseason 2 event on September 10 that raises accounts to level 5 and unlocks all weapons. ARC Raiders will be free to play from October 8 to 12 alongside the Frozen Trail update and its Pendula Pass map. DAVE THE DIVER reached iOS and Android on September 17 at 1,500 yen with a launch sale through September 30.
Nexon also announced a special dividend of about 324 billion yen, or 415 yen per share, pending board approval in September 2026, after second-quarter results that beat forecasts. Blue Archive's global version permanently suspended 122,046 accounts on August 13 for abusing in-game mechanics.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every fact links the story it came from.
Structured graph also available as JSON at /public/entities/nexon.
CC BY 4.0.
When a claim about Nexon was confirmed, debunked, or disputed against open-web sources. The record stays even after a claim drops off the facts list.
Nexon launched Mabinogi Mobile in Japan on October 7, a free-to-play rebuild of the PC MMORPG that supports cross-play between mobile and PC. The launch brings official-service gifts, a reward for reaching 300,000 pre-registrations, permanent events such as a 7-day attendance board and 7-stage growth missions, a friend invitation event running to December 2, and a campaign with Amazon gift cards.
Nexon announced on October 6 that it has signed a partnership agreement with Chernin Entertainment to develop film and television adaptations of ARC Raiders and THE FINALS, both developed by Nexon subsidiary Embark Studios. Chernin Entertainment will be lead producer on both projects, selected after multiple production companies and studios competed for the adaptation rights. Embark Studios' creative team will work closely with Chernin on the adaptations. Patrick Söderlund, founder and CEO of Embark Studios and chairman of Nexon's board, called it a next big step in growing both titles into transmedia experiences. David Ready, president of film at Chernin Entertainment, said both are global IP with potential to grow into major franchises, and that Nexon and Embark have built worlds with many stories waiting to be told. No directors, cast, or release timing were specified in the announcement. ARC Raiders is slated for a major update, Frozen Trail, on October 8, with a free play period running through October 12. THE FINALS begins a new season on October 20.
Nexon announced on October 3, 2026 that ARC Raiders will be free to play from October 8 at 18:00 to October 12 at 17:00 Japan time on Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The full release version is playable during that window, according to Embark Studios. The promotion runs alongside the launch of Frozen Trail, which the developer calls the largest update since release, adding the Pendula Pass map, a new base, and skill tree revisions. New players who start during the free period can reach Pendula Pass immediately by teaming with someone who has already unlocked it, since the map normally requires unlocking. ARC Raiders is a PvPvE extraction shooter set on a future Earth overrun by machines called ARC, with players as Raiders who carry resources back to the underground settlement Speranza. It supports solo play or teams of up to three.
At Tokyo Game Show 2026, Nexon's IO DIVISION showed Fareidolia as a playable demo. Head Kim Yong-ha described it as an "otherworld homestay" where players talk with girls at a base called Tasogare-kan, head into battle, then return to daily life. The game uses voice recognition, letting players call characters by name and pick options aloud. Mitsukiyo returns from Blue Archive to handle sound.
Nexon implemented the September update for The First Descendant on September 17, 2026, adding Ultimate Hailey, the Ultimate version of the Ice-attribute sniper Hailey. The update also adds the new dungeon Cradle of Evolution, lifts the ban on Exceed weapon trading, introduces the Lounge Vault Trade system, and adjusts the Descendants Luna and Lepic.
Nexon is running playable demos of Mabinogi Mobile at Tokyo Game Show 2026, held at Makuhari Messe from September 17 through September 21. The booth sits in Hall 7, C04, and is built around Tir Chonaill, the series' starting village, with a campfire prop that visitors sit at while using an iPad. The build uses premade characters and walks players through combat, dyeing, and rebirth. The combat quest offers Dual Blade, Mage or Flame Mage, and Dancer, then sends players into Rabbie Dungeon against a Succubus boss. Dyeing gives several outfits that can be colored by part, such as the whole garment, a skirt's lace, and a decorative ribbon. Rebirth lets players set body type, skin color, hair, eyes, and mouth. Visitors can also reach Dunbarton, and the town music is arranged differently for day and night. The Japanese service opens October 7, 2026 for PC and mobile as free-to-play with item purchases.
Nexon announced during a Tokyo Game Show 2026 special program on September 17 that the online RPG Mabinogi Mobile will launch in Japan on October 7. The game is free to play with item purchases and will be available on PC, Android, and iOS. It is a reconstruction of the original Mabinogi, the PC MMORPG that has been in service since 2005, keeping its pastoral tone, music performance system, and production elements while adopting faster combat, an intuitive interface, and cross-play between mobile and PC. Players can customize characters, fight in dungeons, cook, and build homes. Content includes the Stella Dome, where players meet across servers, an Assist Mode for auto-progression in easier dungeons, and a Chance Encounter system that matches players for dungeon runs. Pre-registration is open. The game launched in South Korea last year and won the top Grand President's Award at the 2025 Korea Game Awards.
Nexon's Fareidolia, developed by NEXON Games IO DIVISION RX Studio, is a turn-based RPG where enemies keep moving while the player decides. The game was announced on August 24 under the working title Project RX and will be playable at Tokyo Game Show 2026 at Makuhari Messe. In a preview build, the player is the Center Director of the Anima City Reconstruction Center and manager of Tasogare Manor, a dormitory shared with Mates, girls who wield powers. The core loop is daily life at the manor, deployment to resolve erosion anomalies, and return home. Combat is called Live Turn Battle. Each turn a Mate picks one of two skills, checks enemy positions, and can spend a Boost Gauge to move a character's action order forward. Voice input lets players call Mates by name and answer dialogue choices aloud. Platforms are PC, mobile, and console. Release timing and service regions are undecided.
Nexon released the iOS and Android version of Dave the Diver on September 17, 2026, priced at 1,500 yen. A launch sale runs through September 30. The mobile edition rebuilds the UI and controls for touch, adds three zoom levels, fast travel to Sea People's village residents, and a tilt-to-pour-tea gimmick at Bancho Sushi. It supports the DREDGE collaboration and the In the Jungle DLC, sold separately.
Nexon plans to launch Mabinogi Mobile in Japan within 2026 and is accepting pre-registrations for the Android and PC versions. In an interview with 4Gamer, devCAT head Kim Dong-gun and director Lee Jin-hoon said the project began years ago, was shown at G-STAR early on, and now aims to keep Mabinogi's signature elements: vertical orientation for conversation, horizontal for combat.
Nexon has begun the limited-time event "Preseason 2 Gear Up: Ready for Action" in its early access FPS Sudden Attack: Zero Point on September 10, 2026. Players who log in during the event period, which runs until October 1 at 13:59, immediately have their account level raised to 5 (Corporal I) and all weapons unlocked. The update accompanying the event adds a Custom Match system for private rooms, two new maps named Dragon Road for bomb defusal mode and A Supply Warehouse for custom rooms, a map training mode, an in-lobby chat feature, and adjustments to the mid-game leave penalty, which has been reset with revised matchmaking restriction times. Three additional events run from September 10 to September 17 at 8:59: a Check-In Event granting 2 Key Cards every other day for opening in-game crates, a Match Victory Event awarding Proficiency Crates based on wins, and a Playtime Event giving up to 2 Rare and 1 Epic weapon crate per day.
Nexon will exhibit Mabinogi Mobile and Fareidria at Tokyo Game Show 2026, held September 17-21 at Makuhari Messe. The two titles take different routes into the Japanese market: Mabinogi Mobile reinterprets the 20-year-old Mabinogi IP with life content, while Fareidria, led by Blue Archive's Cha Minso PD, applies that game's success formula. Nexon has many new titles planned but chose only these two for the show.
Nexon held the final APAC league match of The Grand Major Online Series on August 22, 2026. Eight teams competed across the fourth cycle. South Korea-Australia joint team 777rs took first place in the match, their first series victory, while KZ topped the overall APAC leaderboard with 275 points. KZ secured straight entry to the main event of The Grand Major 2026, held in Stockholm in November, with a total prize pool of approximately $150,000.
Nexon announced on August 24, 2026, that Project RX, a new bishoujo game from IO DIVISION, the studio behind Blue Archive, now has the official title Fareidria. Set in Anima City, the game casts the player as the director of a reconstruction center who lives alongside girls called Mates. The announcement also introduced four characters: Minie, Ohana, Shami, and Elevator Girl. A playable build will appear at Tokyo Game Show 2026.
Nexon announced on August 24 its lineup for Tokyo Game Show 2026, held at Makuhari Messe from September 17 to September 21. The centerpiece of the Nexon booth in Hall 7-C04 is Mabinogi Mobile, the online RPG scheduled for domestic service in Japan during 2026. The title rebuilds the Mabinogi world, originally launched as a PC game in 2005, with a new story, mobile-optimized controls, and community functions. It supports cross-play between mobile and PC. The booth recreates the starting village Tir Chonaill, where visitors can try the demo around a campfire, plus a photo spot featuring the Goddess Statue. Demo players who pre-register receive an original cooling towel, and general visitors get A4 clear files. The second playable title is Faleidria, a new game from NEXON Games' IO DIVISION, known for Blue Archive. Built in Unreal Engine 5, it is set in the fictional Anima City and features interactions with characters called Mates. The booth recreates its Twilight Manor setting, and characters Minie, Ohana, Shami, and Elevator Girl will greet visitors. A rock-paper-scissors mini-game offers cooling towels and 15cm can badges as rewards. Faleidria's release timing remains undecided.
Nexon opened pre-registrations for Mabinogi Mobile on August 24, 2026, ahead of a planned Japan launch within 2026. The online RPG, developed by devCAT, will be free-to-play with some paid content, and is set for iOS, Android, and PC with cross-play support. The game rebuilds the world of the long-running Mabinogi IP, featuring a new original main story alongside familiar characters like Nao, Rona, and Pan, plus new original characters. Players choose from 18 classes across six systems, including Warrior, Mage, Archer, Healer, Bard, and Thief, and can switch classes by changing weapons. The game includes life content such as sheep shearing, cooking, fishing, and housing, as well as social features like musical instrument performance and campfires. Mobile play is optimized with a screen mode that switches based on device orientation, an auto-battle system, and a 'Serendipitous Encounter' system for joining other players in dungeons. Pre-registration milestones offer in-game rewards, including a 'Swordsman School Uniform Set' at 200,000 registrants. The game will be playable at Tokyo Game Show 2026, held September 17 to 21 at Makuhari Messe.
Nexon announced on August 21 that the official program for Mabinogi Mobile, an online RPG scheduled to launch in Japan within 2026, will stream on August 24 at 8 PM. Host Chunii will be joined by voice actors Tomomi Isomura and Tomoaki Ono, plus Nijisanji virtual liver Kaede Higuchi. The program will show the latest gameplay footage and reveal new information, including pre-launch campaigns. The game supports cross-play on PC and mobile.
Nexon implemented Season 4 Episode 1 for The First Descendant on August 20, 2026. The update adds the new Descendant Raven, the Mega Dungeon Karel's Ship, the main story The Great Battle, new weapons, a Boost Pass, and balance adjustments for Kieran and Kyle. Events run alongside the season, including a Conquest event from September 3 to October 15.
Nexon announced a special dividend of about 324 billion yen, or 415 yen per share, pending board approval in September 2026. The payout follows second-quarter results that beat forecasts, with MapleStory franchise revenue up 63% year-on-year and ARC Raiders cumulative sales passing 16.3 million units.
Nexon will release the Android and iOS versions of DAVE THE DIVER on September 17. The ocean adventure, developed by its independent studio MINTROCKET, will be free with in-app purchases. The game mixes deep-sea fishing by day with sushi restaurant management at night. The mobile version is optimized for play on phones, and DLC packs including DREDGE and In the Jungle are available as well.
NEXON Korea announced on August 13 that it permanently suspended 122,046 accounts in the global version of Blue Archive. The stated reason is that these players were found to be abusing in-game mechanics to gain an unfair advantage over others. The restriction period is permanent. NEXON said unauthorized programs can harm the game environment and other players and will not be tolerated under any circumstances, and it urged players to report suspicious behavior. The specific methods used and how the scale reached this level were not disclosed. This is not the first such action: the global version saw 23,268 accounts banned in May 2025 and 17,712 accounts in March 2026, both for unfair play. The current ban applies to the global and Korean versions operated by NEXON Korea. The Japanese version of Blue Archive is run by Yostar and is a separate service. Blue Archive is a school-themed RPG developed by Nexon Games, set in the academy city of Kivotos, where the player acts as Sensei guiding students. The global version is available on iOS, Android, and PC via Steam.
NEXON Korea announced on July 23 that the MABINOGI ETERNITY PROJECT, the Unreal Engine version of the MMORPG Mabinogi, will hold an alpha test in Korea from September 3 to 6. It is the first test aimed at a large number of players. Applications run July 23 to August 12 at 23:59. Players experience early stages with newly appearing characters, with movement and hit feel improved from past trial play feedback.
Nexon announced on July 13 that the remastered FPS Sudden Attack: Zero Point will begin early access on Steam on July 30, 2026. The game is a free-to-play remaster of the original Sudden Attack, which debuted in South Korea in 2005 and later in Japan. It retains the original's high-speed combat and classic bomb defusal and team deathmatch modes while overhauling visuals with a new engine. At launch, early access will include 13 main weapons, 4 sub-weapons, over 200 main weapon-specific parts, 36 shared parts, character skins, and 10 characters. Two maps for close-quarters battle, four maps for bomb defusal mode, and bot team deathmatch are available. A Black Market allows players to trade items. Nexon also released a 2026 roadmap: content will roll out through a pre-season followed by Seasons 1 to 3, adding clan systems, new weapons, and maps. The Vampire mode, a fan favorite from the original, is planned for Season 2. A final closed beta test ran from July 9 to 13.
Nexon has started the final closed beta test for SUDDEN ATTACK ZERO POINT, a remaster of the 2005 online FPS Sudden Attack, on Steam. The test runs from July 9 to July 13 and includes 13 primary weapons, over 200 dedicated parts, and 10 unique characters. Players can apply via the Steam store page until July 11.
Nexon announced its booth lineup for Tokyo Game Show 2026, featuring Project RX, a new subculture game from Blue Archive developer IO DIVISION, and Mabinogi Mobile, the cross-play mobile remake of the classic MMORPG. A teaser site is live, with more details to come.
Nexon released the CROWN update for MapleStory on July 2, adding Hyper Burning BEYOND for accelerated leveling, the Challengers World Season 3, and remasters for the Kinesis and Wild Hunter jobs. Further content is scheduled through August.
At NDC26, Nexon designer Lee Gwang-ho presented on how infinite growth systems in Wars of Prasia create stat gaps that destroy group battle dynamics. Instead of narrowing the gap, the team introduced three new approaches: becoming stronger when dedicated, when in numbers, and when in crisis, implemented through a seasonal Succession System with low-barrier utility skills.
At NDC26, Nexon Korea's Oh Se-hyun detailed the Replay open license project, which revives dormant IPs from 20 years ago. The project prioritizes surviving fan communities over old game assets, using AI to lower the cost of code analysis and asset organization. Partners are selected per IP to rebuild a core experience before expanding into a franchise.
At NEXON Developers Conference 26, NEXPACE blockchain lead Ryu Gi-hyeok presented a postmortem of five years building MapleStory Universe, the blockchain ecosystem around MapleStory. He described three walls the project hit after launch: the security risk of asset approvals, the friction of transaction fees, and the cost of vetting external builders on a permissioned chain. The talk centered on whether blockchain's permissionless ideal can coexist with a developer's responsibility to protect users.
At NDC26, Nexon Games engine programmer Kang Jang-hoon presented M1 APT, an automated test tool for The First Descendant. Designed to run continuously on console hardware without external automation tools, it uses a four-pipeline system for pathfinding, combat, mission detection, and crash recovery, prioritizing uninterrupted data collection over perfect reproducibility.
Sim Eun-seop, CEO and lead programmer of Lizard Smoothie, presented a case study at NEXON's NDC26 on how the indie game Shape of Dreams sold 1 million copies within three months of its September 2024 Steam release. The team, two engineers with no art background, focused on gameplay and used a free demo as a primary marketing tool, updating it roughly 70 times over 2 years and 9 months. Data collection tools were built in to track player behavior, leading to key changes like adding WASD controls after a focus group test showed demand, and nerfing early enemy attacks that caused 45-50% death rates in the first stages.
At NDC 26, Nexon detailed its Monolake data platform, which consolidates all game data into a single Snowflake-based lake. The company is now moving to Monolake 2.0, focusing on ontology-driven data that both humans and AI can use, with tools like AI Search and active anomaly detection already in internal testing.
At NEXON Korea's NDC26 conference, NEXON Games engineer Kim Myeong-ji detailed the development of a new TTS model for Blue Archive. The team adopted Style-Bert-VITS2, an open-source Japanese-focused model, to improve emotional expression and naturalness in character voices. The upgrade targets better reproduction of nuances like distress and joy, addressing specific feedback on long vowels and pitch in Japanese lines.
At Nexon Developers Conference 26, Lee Se-hwan of Nexon Korea's Game UX Analysis Team presented a session on the user research analysis platform Insight Finder, which he planned and developed. He discussed how AI can be applied to user research not as mere automation but as a rethinking of standardization, assetization, and access rights. Lee outlined three recurring difficulties in analyzing research results: time constraints, judgment verification, and loss of organizational knowledge.
Nexon's NDC 26, Korea's largest game developer conference, opened June 16 for a three-day run. The 19th edition features 51 sessions centered on AI utilization in game development, with live-streamed panels on planning, production, and live operations at Nexon Korea's headquarters.
NEXON Korea's annual developer conference NDC26 opened on June 16 in Pangyo, South Korea, with a welcome speech by CEO Lee Jung-hoon and a keynote by Co-CEO Kang Dae-hyun. Lee described AI as a "revolution in creation and computation" that gives everyone the same implementation tools, making the key differentiator a developer's insight into what users truly value. Kang's keynote, titled "In an era where implementation becomes easy, what do we compete on?," argued that the competitive edge now lies in what he called "contextual compound interest"-the accumulated understanding and relationships built over time between creators and players. He contrasted this with "simple interest" approaches that fail to carry lessons forward. Kang cited data showing Steam releases grew from about 2,800 in 2015 to roughly 20,000 in 2025, yet only 3% received over 1,000 reviews, and 57% of playtime in 2024 went to games over six years old. He warned that while AI can produce outputs, it cannot create the promises and trust that sustain live games. The conference runs through June 18 with 51 sessions across nine tracks, including a talk from Embark Studios.
Nexon released a demo for its dark fantasy MMORPG 'Embers of the Uncrowned' at the Steam Next Fest on June 15, 2026, alongside a new trailer. The demo is available until June 22. The game focuses on rebuilding a noble family and reclaiming human territories in a dark fantasy world with strategic combat.
NEXON announced on June 12 that a collaboration between its free-to-play looter shooter The First Descendant and the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion will begin on June 18. A trailer released alongside the announcement shows Descendants wearing plug suit-style costumes modeled after Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley Shikinami, and Mari Illustrious Makinami. The collaboration is cosmetic, with full-body skins, weapon skins, and social motions expected. NEXON has not yet detailed the sales format or full item list. An upcoming developer livestream on the game's official YouTube channel will introduce collaboration items and events ahead of the June 18 launch, along with June update content. The First Descendant is available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam. The game previously collaborated with NieR: Automata and Bayonetta.
Nexon announced the final closed beta test for Sudden Attack Zero Point, a free-to-play remaster of the classic FPS Sudden Attack. The test runs on Steam from July 9 to July 13, 2026, featuring 13 primary weapons, over 200 exclusive parts, 10 characters, and several maps and modes.
The Chinese team Kingzero won the APAC League Cycle 1 finals of The Grand Major Online Series, the global esports tournament for the team shooter The Finals. The tournament, organized by Nexon and Embark Studios, awards points toward the TGM Grand Final 2026 in Stockholm, with a total prize pool of $200,000.
NEXPACE, Nexon's blockchain subsidiary, announced a $10 million (1.6 billion yen) buyback of NXPC tokens for its MapleStory Universe project. The three-month program is framed as ecosystem support, not market intervention. The company cited 850,000 active wallets, first-time user spending exceeding rewards in Q1 2026, and 8.32 million NXPC burned. A content roadmap includes new classes, maps, and a boss, while the long-term vision shifts toward a builder-centric platform with AI-assisted game creation tools.