Though they’re a young company, Fantage is a success story to learn from. A staff of 5 started the company back in 2007, and a staff of 35 keeps things moving in 2010. Things have been so successful they’re looking to expand their company to 100 full time employees by the end of next year. Of course a company would need the online traffic to justify this kind of staff, which Fantage absolutely does; as of July 2010, their site has 3-4 million new users, with 7.3 million total. Their goal is 10 million users by the end of this year. While America has been gripped by the firm hand of economic instability, they seemto be defying the odds and growing in the face of adversity. So what’s their secret?

Fantage.com seems to just keep making good decisions. One look at their homepage and you can see that they are very in tune with who their audience is and what they want in a game. While their main users are 6-14 year olds, Fantage.com also caters to mothers and keeps things they’re looking for in mind when they launch new products. Since male players tend to drop out of the violence-free environment by age 11, Fantage works with Nexon in a mutually beneficial partnership; larger company Nexon helps fund Fantage, and when Fantage’s players are no longer interested in the type of gameplay offered they can move on to the more mature games at Nexon.

Fantage also understands that kids can be fickle and parents cautious when it comes to the world of online gaming. In an environment where most online memberships can be purchased in yearly intervals, Fantage offers membership in smaller increments (down to a day!), giving players and their parents a sample of the game without forking out for a longer commitment. Looking at the staggering success of the young company, you can tell they’re making all of the right moves. Check out Fantage.com for more!

Nexon America announced their third quarter revenues and found that they have jumped by 36%. Which is huge in an economic downtown and probably a sign of gamer’s excitement about Dungeon Fighter Online, MapleStory, Combat Arms and Mabinogi.

“We are on the verge of having a very strong year,” said Daniel Kim, Nexon America’s CEO. “It’s a testament to the quality and accessibility of our free-to-play games and the amount of new content we have been delivering to our customers. Our hard work has earned us a level of loyalty among our player base that cannot be matched.”

Nexon America also just announced the upcoming beta test for BlockParty.com, its new game portal/social network site.

Dungeon Fighter Online

Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, Washington is coming up next week! Nexon has revealed what games, contest giveaways, and exciting events are happening at their booth (No. 122).

Gamers can get a hands-on with two new titles, Dungeon Fighter Online and Dragon Nest. Players can also check out the Quarantine Mode in Combat Arms. Every day, Nexon will be giving away new Alienware TactX brand keyboard and mouse and Dungeon Fighter Online Merchandise.

Our friends, Robert Welkner and Hailey Bright, the hosts of Coin-op TV Live, will be doing daily presentations at 11am and 4pm. At each presentation, they will be showing gamers details about Dungeon Fighter Online and giving away free t-shirts at the end of each presentation.

Nexon’s Min Kim will be sharing That Arcade Feeling with PAX attendees at 1:30pm on Saturday in the Wolfman Theater. Kim will also be discussing how they used traditional arcade-style gaming in Dungeon Fighter Online.

Start planning your PAX calendar now! Have fun and say hi to our friends at Nexon!

Combat Arms

Nexon America’s Combat Arms is getting infected. Quarantine Mode is brand new to Combat Arms and players can fight as soldiers or as infected zombies. The mission then becomes to either destroy the infected or infect as many as possible.

“This isn’t the usual zombies invading, eating your brains type of scenario,” said Min Kim, Nexon America’s vice president of marketing. “In Quarantine Mode, the fun doesn’t end with fending off zombies. Even if you get infected, you can continue playing as a zombie and spread the zombie bug to your friends and other soldiers. This makes for a messy, gooey fun fight with only the stoutest soldier able to avoid becoming a chew toy.”

Players can try out the game at Combatarms.nexon.net

Dungeon Fighter Online

Nexon treated us to a first look demo of their upcoming side-scrolling action game, Dungeon Fighter Online. Nexon has a history of very successful free-to-play online games, such as MapleStory, Mabinogi and Combat Arms. They have excelled at the microtransaction revenue model and major retail outlets now sell Nexon Game Cards which are prepaid cards that players can use to purchase in-game items.

Dungeon Fighter Online is a an online, side-scroller that offers more arcade-style action than their other titles. The title takes place in Arad where players can choose one of five unique character classes. Each class has it’s own abilities and attack combinations. Players will be able to have extensive customization to their players from costume to weapons, armor and skills. There are four sub-classes to choose from to make their character even more unique.

Players can go through quests in Dungeon Fighter Online alone or with three other teammates. Teammate composition is very important because talents of the team can assist with benefits to the entire party. Nexon discussed that players will be able to create Guilds, or they can create an “Entourage”. In the Entourage system, players receive experience points from everyone in their entourage as they play. They compared it to a pyramid scheme. The challenging part is when someone has enough experience, they might leave your Entourage to start their own.

The controls for Dungeon Fighter Online are completely customizable. At the demo we used keys A-H for skill attacks, C to jump, X to attack, and F1-F6 for more skill attacks. Skill attacks have a cool-down period, so it’s important to learn how to combo skills for the most efficient attacks. While the keys in the demo seemed overwhelming, it was only because we were playing advanced level characters. After character creation the game goes into a short story mode about that character and then into tutorial type quests. To help the player get familiar with the controls. A goal for Nexon is to make Dungeon Fighter Online “a game that is extremely approachable” to all types of gamers.

Each day players will receive a certain number of coins. The coins are used to revive the player when he/she dies. One can either play each day until their coins run out, or he/she can purchase more coins.

Although this is a free-to-play game, in true Nexon style, the experience will be extensive. There is a main quest line that will conclude, but Nexon promises updates with additional storylines and lands. Nexon also plans to encourage and host tournaments as well as support a ranking system. Another mode that will be a part of Dungeon Fighter Online is the “Tower of Death”. In Tower of Death, players are unable to use potions or coins as waves of enemies come at them.

Dungeon Fighter Online is set for a release this year for PC only. Nexon is looking into adding support to user a joystick instead of the keyboard as the game does play like an arcade. Below are images from the game as well character art.