XL Games

XL Games is a South Korean video game developer founded in 2003 by Jake Song (Song Jae-kyung), a key figure behind the development of popular online games like Lineage and The Kingdom of the Winds. Song, a graduate of Seoul National University with a master's in computer science, co-founded Nexon before joining NCSoft and eventually establishing XL Games to create immersive online worlds.

The company is primarily known for developing massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Its flagship title, ArcheAge, is a sandbox MMORPG for PC that launched in 2013. The company has also developed other games, including Civilization Online, the mobile action RPG Braves for Kakao, and Moonlight Sculptor. More recently, XL Games has expanded its portfolio with titles like ArcheAge War, a combat-focused MMORPG built with Unreal Engine 4, and ArcheWorld, which incorporates NFT blockchain technology.

In February 2020, Kakao Games acquired a controlling stake in XL Games, making it a subsidiary of the Korean tech giant. This acquisition provided XL Games with more resources to focus on game development for both PC and mobile platforms. The company's business model revolves around the development and servicing of online games, generating revenue through in-game purchases and, in the case of ArcheWorld, NFT transactions. While Jake Song stepped down as CEO in 2023 to focus on the development of ArcheAge 2 (now ArcheAge Chronicles), he remained a director until leaving the company in early 2025 to "recharge."

Keywords: MMORPG developer, online gaming, ArcheAge, Jake Song, South Korean games, PC gaming, mobile gaming, Kakao Games, Civilization Online, ArcheAge War, Moonlight Sculptor, sandbox MMO, Unreal Engine, blockchain games, NFT, virtual worlds, online entertainment, game development studio, RPG, action RPG