Korean MMO Firms Joymax, WeMade Merge

Joymax (Silkroad Online) and WeMade Entertainment (The Legend of Mir series), both MMORPG developers and publishers headquartered in Seoul, Korea, announced that they are merging operations. Established in 1997, Joymax has around 230 employees and is best known for creating Silkroad Online, a free-to-play MMORPG is available in more than 200 international countries. Its other titles include Final Odyssey, Bumpy Crash, ATROX, Age of Wanderer, Star Puzzle, and Dark Eden. WeMade opened in 2000 has found much success in The Legend of Mir 2 and The Legend of Mir 3 -- the two games currently have over 350,000 active concurrent users and more than 200 million registered players around the world. The publisher formed a U.S. office, WeMade USA, in 2008. Joymax says that it will continue to use its global direct service platform to enhance its lineup of online games, and take advantage of WeMade's development background and business teams to launch a new global portal this spring. The firm did not disclose any financial terms for the merger. "By joining forces we are able to expand access to our portfolio of top online games to more markets than ever before," says Joymax CEO Kwan Ho Park. "Consumers will benefit from the collective talents as we continue focusing on creating spectacular online games that fans across the world have come to expect." He adds, "Joymax's success comes from the foundation of its outstanding global platform, and together with WeMade's development team and the recent partnership with Dragonfly, the co-developer of QuakeWars Online, we now have all the components to create the best and most compelling games for players across North America, Europe and Asia."