Nexon, a Japanese video game company with a billion users, is planning a Western expansion.

The creator of one of the longest-running online role-playing games in the world, whose most popular video game has nearly a billion registered members, is gearing up for global expansion and focusing on the West.

The idea overall with that is to combine what we're really good at - making a virtual world last and grow forever - with what they're really good at," Nexon's chief executive, Owen Mahoney, told Reuters

Nexon Co Ltd, a corporation with a market value of $22 billion, is one of the world's top ten video game companies by market capitalization, surpassing Take-Two Interactive, the maker of "Grand Theft Auto," and Roblox.

Nexon is collaborating with AGBO to see whether there are any methods to bring its game brands to cinema or television, as well as create virtual worlds or video games based on AGBO's films.

Nexon has steered clear of the "metaverse" mania that has engulfed digital behemoths Microsoft and Facebook.Nexon was one of the first companies to use elements that have now become industry standard, such as in-game virtual currency and the free-to-play business model.

Its most popular franchise, the arcade-style fighting game "Dungeon and Fighter," has earned more than $20 billion since 2005 - more than the combined box office proceeds of the "Star Wars" or "Harry Potter" film franchises.

Nexon wants to keep the expense of developing games under control in an era when budgets often exceed $100 million. Instead of depending on employees, it uses machine learning technologies to animate some character actions.