Nexon Mobile and Mikoishi today announced a new partnership to release the world’s first true Real Time Strategy (RTS) Game for 3G mobile phones. SteamIron: The Fallen will be released by Nexon Mobile in South Korea from November 2007 as part of a new multi-title joint development partnership deal between the Korean publisher and Singapore-based game development studio.

SteamIron: The Fallen is the first installment in Mikoishi’s SteamIron franchise. SteamIron is an epic cross-platform sci-fi fantasy that plays out over multiple installments on both handheld and PC platforms.

The story begins on 3G mobile with SteamIron: The Fallen with future installments planned for Mobile, Nintendo DS culminating in a PC MMOG scheduled for release in 2009. Cross-platform gameplay and community features are planned and will be announced in 2008.

“SteamIron: The Fallen was designed specifically to cater to the massive RTS fan base in Korea.” said Alex Goatcher, Chief Creative Officer for Mikoishi. “In the past, RTS games have been tried on mobile but have failed due to the lack of cooperative and competitive gameplay. Network technology and handsets were not able to support real-time competitive gameplay. Now with Theatre, our advanced online gaming technology, RTS games can now be played in a swift, fair, and controlled mobile environment.” concluded Goatcher.

SteamIron: The Fallen features include:

• Real time, competitive multiplayer RTS for the mobile form factor
• Online Ladder system
• Innovative adaptations of core RTS mechanics to mobile platform
• Two unique factions each providing a different gaming experience
• Multiple unit types per faction, requiring “research” to unlock
• Command up to 15 units at any one time
• Two different resources to manage, Iron and Steam
• Rich selection of maps at launch, able to refresh content with new maps continually after launch
• Live spectator support for televised tournaments

“Successfully bringing such an important game genre to Korean mobile gamers required a top tier local partner and Nexon Mobile possesses the marketing skills to proliferate a killer RTS game for Korea ’s mobile game market” said Irene Chua, CEO of Mikoishi. “Nexon Mobile has the ability to utilize its online portal, media relations, and partnership with Korea’s top e-sports broadcasters which will help us introduce SteamIron to the Korean gaming community as well as casual gamers to recruit new fans for RTS games on mobile.” added Chua.

“With SteamIron, Mikoishi has developed a ground-breaking gameplay system that enables mobile RTS to become a reality” said Joonmo Kwon, CEO of Nexon Mobile. “We are excited to bring SteamIron to RTS fans in Korea and this unprecedented real-time multiplayer gaming experience available through the mobile platform is further testament to the capabilities of Mikoishi’s cross-platform online gaming technology, Theatre.”

[tags]mobile games, mobile gaming, rts[/tags]