Nexon Founder Kim Jung-Ju Passes Away

Nexon founder Kim Jung-Ju has passed away earlier this week, at age 54.

According to the Korean Herald, Mr Kim passed away following worsening symptoms related to depression, but didn’t go into further detail or name a specific cause of death.

He passed away on February 28th in Hawaii, where he was seeking treatment for said depression, the news site reports.

“It is difficult to express the tragedy of losing our friend and mentor Jay Kim [Kim Jung-Ju’s English name] , a man who had an immeasurably positive impact on the world,” said Owen Mahoney, CEO of Nexon. “As a founder and visionary leader, Jay encouraged those around him to ignore the skeptics and trust their creative instincts. He will be deeply missed by his Nexon family and many friends.”

Nexon is an important company in the history of Korea’s MMO scene, having started in 1994 with The Kingdom of the Winds.

The company would then go on to produce multiple smash hits such as the increasingly popular Maple Story, which was many players in the SEA region’s introduction to MMOs as well as the Dungeon & Fighter games.

Nexon has also found success in the mobile market, publishing the popular Blue Archive.

It’s also become the first Korean company to break 1 trillion Won in annual sales in 2011, following the company going public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

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