(LEAD) Nexon's open-world MMORPG 'Durango: Wild Land' to launch in S. Korea

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SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Yonhp) -- South Korea's top game publisher Nexon Korea Co. on Tuesday unveiled the highly anticipated massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) "Durango: Wild Land," with the official launch date set for later this month.

The open world sandbox MMORPG, based in a primitive universe dominated by dinosaurs, will be officially available on both Android and iOS on Jan. 25, the company said at a press conference in Seoul.

The company said the number of preregistrations for the game has surpassed the 1.6 million mark since launching preorders on its official website last year.

Players are placed in the world of Durango due to an unknown accident and go up against carnivorous dinosaurs in primitive conditions in order to survive.

"Unlike traditional MMORPGs where the players go on the ride provided by game developers, the users will create their own playground with materials provided by game developers in Durango," Lee Eun-seok, a lead developer, told reporters.

Lee heads Nexon's internal development group What Studio, which has developed this unprecedented game over the past five and half years, the company said.

In order to survive, the players must be able to use the land to their advantage and use modern materials and technologies from their former lives by crafting weapons and tools.

"We intended to create a new genre that has never been seen before," Lee said, adding that the game shows humans' basic desire to build a new world.

The company said it will launch the game in overseas markets but did not release the official launch schedule.

khj@yna.co.kr
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