Having already signed a deal with NetEase to bring games to China, Blizzard has inked a similar deal with Nexon to bring Overwatch to Korean markets.
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Blizzard has made a deal with Nexon to bring its re-launched Overwatch overseas to Korea, adapting the game specifically for those regional players. Specifics on what this will look like remain unclear, but the deal’s terms say that Blizzard will continue developing Overwatch’s content, and Nexon will publish the game on PC while handling live operations for the special Korean version of the game.
Blizzard has made similar deals in the past, sometimes morphing their games considerably for foreign markets; China, for example, has a special Diablo 2 server complete with items that are exclusive to the region.
“Under the partnership, NEXON will publish Overwatch on PC in Korea within this year, handling live service and business operations tailored to the Korean market, while Blizzard will provide the Overwatch IP and continue to lead overall game development,” Blizzard’s announcement reads.
“Working closely together, the two companies plan to deliver hyper-localized content and expand the IGR ecosystem to further strengthen Overwatch’s presence in Korea. Both NEXON and Blizzard will begin recruiting additional local talent to bring their shared vision to life. More details on the publishing transition will be shared in the future.”
There’s another potential behind-the-scenes aspect of this deal that was not mentioned in the press release.
A year ago, Korean newspaper MTN said that Blizzard was courting multiple Asia-specific developers, asking them to make pitches for a new StarCraft game. The reports indicate that multiple high-profile firms wanted to make a new StarCraft title for Blizzard, including NC Soft and Nexon.
Shortly after, it was said that Nexon won the contract and would be entrusted with the development of a new StarCraft game.
Nothing has been announced or confirmed on that front, but it wouldn’t be unusual for Blizzard to make multiple deals with its partners at once.