HanbitSoft ( ko, 한빛소프트) is a

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n computer game publishing and

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

company. It is best known internationally as the Korean distributor for the successful computer game ''

StarCraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance am ...

''. Formed in 1999, HanbitSoft specializes in the distribution of massively multiplayer online roleplaying games (

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

s) to

Eastern Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...

n countries. The publishing company is domestically successful, claiming the top five percent of the nation's computer game market share, and has emerged internationally with its flagship game, ''Tantra Online''. Although the company has developed small hits in-house, HanbitSoft invests significantly in the at large gaming industry and has formed partnerships with companies both domestic and abroad. In May 2003, the company published ''

With Your Destiny With Your Destiny, often referred to as WYD, is a Free-to-play Scandinavian-based MMORPG developed by JoyImpact Co., Ltd., and was published and marketed worldwide by HanbitSoft, HanbitSoft Inc. in May 2003. It is also known as Supreme Destiny in ...

'', an MMORPG developed by JoyImpact. After HanbitSoft acquired JoyImpact, its development team gradually reduced, leaving the game without updates. Although HanbitSoft left WYD without upgrades for a long time, JoyImpact, in 2019, decided to get the game back from HanbitSoft and return the game development. HanbitSoft entered into an agreement with Japanese-based

Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...

to publish a first person action RPG called '' Hellgate: London'', developed by

Flagship Studios Flagship Studios was a computer game company founded by Bill Roper along with , , and David Brevik, former high level Blizzard North executives. The core personnel of Flagship Studios had been collaborating as a team since 1993 when they found ...

. HanbitSoft was acquired by

T3 Entertainment T3 or T-3 may refer to: Medicine * T3, in endocrinology, triiodothyronine, a thyroid hormone ** Polar T3 syndrome, characterized by low levels of that hormone in polar explorers * T3 spinal nerve * Third thoracic vertebrae * An electrode sit ...

on July 3, 2008.

References

External links

* Video game companies established in 1999 Video game companies of South Korea Video game publishers Video game development companies South Korean companies established in 1999 {{Asia-videogame-company-stub