RUMOR: Disney Might Buy Out Nexon, the Korean Mega-Publisher

Do you know Nexon?

Even if you don’t, you probably do. It’s one of those big-name, big-brand Korean publishers that has its paws in far more games and series then you may first realize. A good chunk of their games are simply Korean mobile fare, that is true, but they’re also the bad boys responsible for MapleStory, Final Fantasy XIV ( the Korean version), Counter-Strike Online, Dungeon Fighter Online, Battlerite, FIFA Online 4, TERA, and more. They’re a pretty big deal, worth at least $13.2 billion USD, which is why it should be at least mildly alarming to hear that one of the major player who are considering buying them out is the House of Mouse itself, Disney.

The details behind this story are a bit sketchy, but here goes: apparently, according to “the international banking industry,” current Nexon CEO and his wife (both majority shareholders in the company) have approached a “high-ranking Disney representative” about buying out their company.

There’s been no official word from Disney or Nexon about this supposed deal.

Either way the company is going to be sold, they’ve been trying to sell it for a while, at least since January, and while other companies have made offers, he’s keen on dealing with Disney because he’s fond of them, with him being quoted as saying they’re similar, since “some people hate Nexon to death.” His words, not mine.

The implications of this deal are considerable. Disney decided a while ago that they were more than happy to simply rent their IPs to studios rather than try to host one of their own, but if they went forward with this deal, it would mean they’d have a company extremely experienced in making mobile games, and that they’d have a bigger foothold in Korea than ever before.

That said, I’m not entirely convinced Disney would be willing to put down 13 billion for them. We’ll have to see.