PRESS RELEASES
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ACCLAIMED COMPOSER KEVIN RIEPL SCORES WEBZEN’S MMOFPS HUXLEY
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SEOUL, South Korea and LOS ANGELES – Oct. 2, 2007 – Huxley, the highly anticipated twitch-action massively multiplayer online first-person shooting (MMOFPS) game, now has a dramatic orchestral soundtrack to compliment the game’s creative and immersive post-apocalyptic storyline and intense game play. Global online entertainment company Webzen, Inc. (NASDAQ: WZEN) announced today that acclaimed composer Kevin Riepl has scored the soundtrack for the upcoming sci-fi adventure.
A renowned musical composer for multiple entertainment genres, Riepl’s previous videogame credits include the commercial blockbuster Gears of War, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game City of Villains and the first-person shooters Unreal Championship 2 and Unreal Tournament 2004, among many others.
“I am really proud to have the opportunity to work on Huxley, an awesome game with a lot of different themes and influences that required a gripping soundtrack,” said Riepl. “The music will bring players closer to the game in every aspect of Huxley – from the large and relatively peaceful cities to the immersive player-versus environment quests and the intense player-versus-player massive battles.”
The Huxley score, composed by Riepl, was recorded by the 80-piece Hollywood Studio Symphony at Warner Bros. Studios over a two-day period. The game’s soundtrack features 25 tracks, each unique to the style and feel of various maps, battles and even the game’s two distinct cities where players will congregate, socialize, trade items and prepare before entering Huxley’s epic battles.
“We can now add immersive and dramatic music to the creative multi-cultural art style, compelling Unreal Engine 3.0 graphics and unique game design as some of the many ways that Huxley is sure to resonate with players,” said Kijong “KJ” Kang, producer, Webzen. “Kevin captured the exact musical feel we wanted Huxley players to experience while unfolding the epic story and engaging in the game’s fierce battles.”
Produced by Webzen’s H-Studio, Huxley is the first massively multiplayer online (MMO) game to combine the twitch-based fast-action gameplay of a first person shooter (FPS) with the cerebral character development of an MMO to deliver an intense and exciting online entertainment experience of a complete MMOFPS. Players will be drawn into the genre-bending game play, riveting cinematic graphics and intricate setting of Huxley, where they will choose between two races, Sapiens or Alternatives and struggle to obtain a powerful energy source while fighting endless battles against the Hybrids, a mysterious third group born of the two races.
Currently in development for gamers across multiple global markets, Huxley is in closed beta testing in Korea. The game is slated for release in North America in 2008. For more information, please check out http://www.webzengames.com/huxley.
For more information on Kevin Riepl Music: http://kevinriepl.com.
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October 04 2007
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WEBZEN LAUNCHES HUXLEY™ CLOSED BETA TESTING IN KOREA
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SEOUL, South Korea – Sept. 13, 2007 – Global online entertainment company WEBZEN Inc. (NASDAQ: WZEN) announced today that closed beta testing has started in Korea for Huxley™, the highly-anticipated twitch-action massively multiplayer online first-person shooting (MMOFPS) game.
Beginning today and running for five days, Korean beta players will have access to Huxley for the first time daily from 2 p.m. until midnight. The 999 lucky beta testers were selected after a web-based sign up that took place from Aug. 28 to Sept. 6, 2007. For the first time ever, testers will get a chance to enter the city where the characters live and breathe. They will also be treated to a variety of thrilling player-versus-player (PvP) battle modes such as team death match and radar domination, as well as the core systems, including Huxley’s unique quest mode, not seen before in standard online first-person shooter (FPS) games.
Unlike the standard closed beta testing where gamers get limited gameplay starting at level 1, Huxley closed beta test allows the 999 testers to experience the game’s unmatched excitement by entering the game at level 19. They can wield high-level weaponry and defense systems as well as obtain and use a variety of supplementary skills and licenses unique to an online first-person shooter.
Additional details about the Korean closed beta test are available on the official Korean Huxley website (http://www.huxley.co.kr).
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September 13 2007
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WEBZEN ANNOUNCES THE FIRST CLOSED BETA TEST FOR HUXLEY™ TO START ON SEPTEMBER 13
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Global online entertainment company WEBZEN Inc. (www.webzen.com) announced today the dates of the much-anticipated first closed beta test for Huxley™, the next-generation MMOFPS. The closed beta test will start on September 13.
One of the year’s most anticipated titles, Huxley is the cutting-edge, next-generation MMOFPS, fusing traditional FPS with the quest and character growth system of the MMORPG. Being developed as a truly global game title for Webzen, Huxley has already been creating a sensation in the markets in Europe and North America with rave reviews and a $35 million deal with a Chinese publisher.
After 999 lucky beta testers are selected from the official Huxley website beginning on August 28, the closed beta test will take place from September 13 for five days. For the first time ever, testers will get a chance to experience the city where the characters live and breath. They will also be treated to a variety of play modes such as team death match and radar domination, as well as the core systems, including the quest, not seen before in standard FPS games.
“With Huxley’s many innovative elements, gamers are in for a totally different experience,” said Nam-Ju Kim, chief executive officer of Webzen, Inc. “Huxley is sure to challenge the existing genres with a new look and feel in multiple platforms. We’re extremely confident that this title will set a new standard in MMOFPS.”
Meanwhile, Webzen has been conducting various testing and external network tests with a focus group since June to better gauge gamer preferences and evaluate the game’s stability. The first closed beta test is a part of a planned series of user tests.
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August 22 2007
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WEBZEN ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF SOUL OF THE ULTIMATE NATION IN CHINA
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Global online entertainment company WEBZEN Inc. (www.webzen.com) announced today that the online service for Soul of the Ultimate Nation will be launched in China on May 24.
After a highly successful five-week open beta testing that began on April 18 through The 9 (www.the9.com), Soul of the Ultimate Nation will now be available as a full paid online service. Beginning on May 24, Chinese subscribers can use a micro payment: an array of payment cards – including The 9 recharge card, online card or bank card – to acquire game cash for items in the item shop.
This marks the second international service launch for Soul of the Ultimate Nation, which also began service in Taiwan on April 19. With a record 400,000 simultaneous open beta users in only three days in China, Webzen is more confident than ever that Soul of the Ultimate Nation will continue to gain popularity and provide international revenue diversification and profit growth for the company.
“Despite the growing competition in the Chinese online game market, a Korean game has achieved significant success,” said Nam Ju Kim, chief executive officer, Webzen, Inc. “This is certainly a great start for us. We’re especially pleased that the Webzen brand has gained the trust of Chinese gamers. They have high expectations for our games, and we won’t let them down with this launch.”
Webzen and The 9 plan to provide a variety of additional services after the launch.
Meanwhile, on May 18, citing Webzen’s achievements in spreading Korean games to the world, the Society of Korean Entertainment Industry awarded its first Hallyu Honor Award to Webzen in the game company category.
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May 23 2007
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LET'S LEARN WORLD-LEADING KOREAN GAME INDUSTRY AT WEBZEN!
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“Impressive graphic technology and superior development studio circumstance”
(2007-04-09) WEBZEN Inc. (NASDAQ: WZEN), a leading global online entertainment company, today announced that Chinese government officers visited Webzen HQ to study and observe Korean On-line game industry through tour of SUN development studio on April6.
According to Shanghai administration’s plan, for 2 weeks from April 2nd, Chinese government officers participate in “Culture & Industry Training Program” to observe diverse Korean industries including culture facilities and committees such as Seoul City Government, Game Evaluation Committee and Pusan International Film Festival Committee and so on.
Especially, they visited Webzen to see Korea’s superior on-line game industry based on strong ‘Hanryu’
mood in China and got presentation on Webzen’s global and local strategies. Also, there was a
development studio tour for SUN, which will be publicly serviced in China from April 18th.
Mr. Jihao, the representative of Chinese Culture & Industry Training program, said “It is highly impressive to see Webzen’s superior developing studio circumstance and its awesome graphic technology”
Mr. Park, CMO of Webzen, also said “Webzen is currently developing Kingdom of Warriors in our own
R&D center in China and this will definitely contribute both Korea and China’s Culture & Technology
industry development through this kind of consistent exchange”
With 40 million ‘MU Online’ members, Webzen aggressively promotes diverse local strategies for Kingdom of Warriors in China. On February, Webzen signed an export license contract for the much-anticipated massively multiplayer online first person shooting game (MMOFPS) Huxley with China’s premier game publisher The 9.
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April 09 2007
