Dota 2 to be published in Japan, Korea by Nexon and Valve

Dota 2, the upcoming sequel to the Warcraft 3 mod Defense of the Ancients, will be co-published in Japan and Korea by Nexon and Valve, the companies announced today.

According to Nexon CEO Min Seo, the company is "very excited about working with Valve to publish Dota 2 and build on the worldwide momentum of the highly successful franchise." Valve co-founder and managing director Gabe Newell said, "Partnering with Nexon will allow us to deliver Dota 2 to a massive audience of Asian gamers via a premium service."

Newell mentioned a "long and strong relationship" between Valve and Nexon; the companies previously teamed up to produce Counter-Strike Online, a microtransaction-based first-person shooter, for Asian markets. A rumor going around in late September held that Nexon and MMO publisher NCsoft were in talks to buy Valve, but representatives for NCsoft denied the report.

Dota 2 is set for release later this year on PC.