Tencent Is Looking to Buy Nexon, the Creator of Web 3 Gaming Franchise MapleStory

Chinese tech giant Tencent is exploring a potential acquisition of Nexon, the South Korean game developer behind the hit title Dungeon & Fighter, Bloomberg reports. Nexon is heavily invested in Web 3 gaming, including the ambitious MapleStory franchise.

The firm has reportedly approached the family of Nexon’s late founder Kim Jung-ju, who controls a 44.4% stake in Nexon via holding company NXC Corp, to discuss a potential acquisition.

Discussions are still preliminary, and there’s no guarantee they will result in a deal, the report states, citing sources close to the matter.

If successful, Tencent would be acquiring a company with a $16.6 billion market capitalization, a move that could reignite its ambitions in global gaming M&A after a slowdown sparked by Chinese regulatory crackdowns in 2020.

The deal could help Tencent secure long-term control over popular intellectual property and give it a firmer foothold in South Korea’s lucrative gaming market.

But any deal would be complicated.

The Kim family inherited control after the founder’s death in 2022 and has since handed shares to the Korean government to cover inheritance taxes. The government has been unable to offload its stake.

Tencent previously tried to buy Nexon in 2019, but talks collapsed over pricing. This new attempt follows Tencent’s $1.3 billion investment in a new Ubisoft unit and a 10% stake in K-pop label SM Entertainment.

The Chinese tech giant is also expanding in the blockchain space, announcing earlier this year that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop a suite of blockchain API services with Ankr.

Read more: S. Korean Gaming Giant Nexon to Use Polygon for Popular MapleStory Universe