Nexon buys Japanese social developer Gloops for nearly $470M

Korean free-to-play publishing giant Nexon acquired the Japanese social-game developer Gloops, the publisher announced today.

Nexon paid 36.5 billion yen ($468.4 million) for the company, which began making mobile games such as Warriors of Odinand JapanPro Baseball Card Battle in 2010 for DeNA's Mobage social network.

"This acquisition significantly accelerates Nexon's mobile strategy, giving us immediate exposure to Japan's large and fast growing mobile market," said Nexon chief executive Seungwoo Choi.

Gloops previously announced a partnership with DeNA for international expansion: the studio is set to produce five games this year and another five in 2013 that are geared toward North America and Europe, in addition to one game each for the Chinese and Korean markets. "We look forward to being a part of an even larger organization as we work to continue bringing new and exciting titles to a growing base of players around the world," said Gloops president Shinsuke Kawakata.