Launch of Co-CEOs Kang Daehyun and Kim Jungwook
'Big and Little' Strategy... Vice President Park Yonghyun and Director Hwang Jaeho Expected Roles
Nexon is preparing for a new era by reorganizing its leadership and aligning the overall direction of the group. Lee Jung-heon, who led Nexon Korea for the past six years, officially took office as the CEO of Nexon Japan at the end of March, marking the beginning of the dual CEO system at Nexon Korea with Kang Dae-hyun and Kim Jung-wook.
According to industry sources on the 10th, Nexon Korea made new executive appointments last month on the 15th, naming Park Yong-hyun, CEO of Nexon Games, and Moon Sae-byeok, former CEO of Nexon Networks, as Vice Presidents of Development and Operations at Nexon Korea, respectively. Additionally, Baek Han-joo, former head of support, and Kim Yong-dae, head of communications, were appointed as CHRO (Chief Human Resources Officer) and Vice President of External Communications. This move is interpreted as a commitment to simultaneously enhance new development and live services while strengthening internal cohesion.
The newly reorganized Nexon Group plans to prepare for another leap forward through the release of various new titles based on a solid pipeline, stable and advanced services for core titles, and connectivity and collaboration across the entire group.
Under the newly launched dual leadership of Kang Dae-hyun and Kim Jung-wook, both co-CEOs are focusing on strengthening communication and connection beyond organizational and corporate boundaries. They are determined to go beyond “what Nexon can do well” to achieve “what only Nexon can do.” The plan is to further refine Nexon’s differentiated capabilities accumulated so far and closely connect the various strengths within the organization to transplant Nexon’s success formula into more areas.
Strengthening New Development Strategy with ‘Big and Little’ Split Structure of Park Yong-hyun and Hwang Jae-ho
Particular attention is being paid to the appointment of Vice President Park Yong-hyun, who also serves as CEO of Nexon Games, and what kind of synergy this will bring between Nexon Games and Nexon Korea. Industry experts expect this to be an opportunity for mutual growth by leveraging each other’s strengths, such as applying Nexon Games’ development know-how, backed by a solid lineup of hit titles, to Nexon Korea’s new game development, and spreading Nexon Korea’s excellent live service capabilities to Nexon Games.
Vice President Park has earned the nickname “Midas Touch” in the gaming industry by consecutively producing major hits such as “Hit,” “Overhit,” “V4,” and “Blue Archive.” He is recognized as a figure with outstanding development capabilities and know-how, as well as deep insight and proven leadership.
Nexon has renamed the existing new development division as the Big Game Division and separated the sub-brand Mint Rocket, which was under the new development division, into an independent division. Vice President Park will concurrently serve as head of the Big Game Division and lead large-scale new game development.
The Big Game Division, led by Vice President Park, will continue developing new titles such as “Paradise,” an extraction survival genre game set in a zombie apocalypse world. Considering the genre characteristics of “Paradise,” Nexon decided to scale up the project and transferred it from Mint Rocket to the Big Game Division. “Paradise” received positive feedback from both domestic and global users during the pre-alpha test conducted in November last year, gaining recognition for its gameplay.
In the case of Mint Rocket, Head Hwang Jae-ho, who led the success of “Dave the Diver (Dave),” will take the lead. Hwang is expected to drive the development of fresh and creative new projects based on his unique ideas and creativity that is not confined by limits. “Dave,” which he directed, was the first domestic single-package game to surpass 3 million cumulative sales, earned the first “Must Play” title in Korea on the game review site Metacritic, and won the Game Design category at the BAFTA Games Awards 2024 in the UK, beating strong contenders.
CEO Kang Dae-hyun is credited with significantly enhancing Nexon’s live service capabilities by serving consecutively as head of the Live Division, head of Intelligence Labs, and COO at Nexon Korea. He has expanded the scope of live services by not only ensuring smooth operation of released games but also leading platform expansion, service improvements, and quality content updates. In particular, he is recognized as a key figure who enabled Nexon’s “super-gap live” to lead the industry through technological advancements such as AI and data analytics.
Industry attention is also focused on the synergy with Moon Sae-byeok, Vice President of Operations, who worked closely with CEO Kang as head of the Live Division at Nexon Korea before serving as CEO of Nexon Networks. Moon led close collaboration between Nexon Korea and Nexon Networks, a subsidiary responsible for various game services and QA, achieving advanced live game operations. With Moon’s return, who oversaw live development and drove the success of multiple titles at Nexon Korea, Nexon’s live services are expected to be further strengthened.
Internal Cohesion through Establishing a ‘Nexon-Only Culture’
Kim Jung-wook, who has led Nexon’s internal and external communications, management support, and social contribution for a long time, is expected to strengthen Nexon’s management support functions as he steps up to the front line of management. Upon taking office, Kim expressed his ambition to connect the various strengths scattered across different organizations into a larger flow to establish a “Nexon-only culture.” Since joining Nexon about 10 years ago, Kim has been responsible for Nexon’s internal and external communications and management support, leveraging his rich experience and network as a journalist, systematic organizational building, and balanced leadership.
Kim Jung-wook is also expected to actively lead improvements in Nexon’s internal organizational culture and external corporate image. With CEO Kang Dae-hyun’s technical expertise, who has led the development of major Nexon titles as well as research on new technologies such as AI and blockchain, combined with Kim’s crisis management and communication skills, Nexon is anticipated to achieve both external growth through strengthened development capabilities and internal cohesion through organizational culture improvement.
Nexon plans to release Nexon Games’ large-scale project “First Descendant” this summer, as well as “Mabinogi Mobile,” which inherits the “Mabinogi” IP, within this year. The Chinese launch of “Dungeon & Fighter Mobile” is scheduled for May 21. Having become the first domestic game company to surpass 3 trillion KRW in annual consolidated revenue in 2020, industry eyes are on whether Nexon can exceed 4 trillion KRW in revenue this year, powered by its newly established leadership.
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