Korean MMORPG hits pay dirt in Japan

Hanbit Ubiquitous Entertainment (HUE) appears to have a smash hit on its hands with its new massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Granado Espada. HUE, the Japanese arm of Korean publisher Hanbit Soft, acquired 100,000 users in just seven hours of beta testing last week, according to Web site MyCom PC.

The game's popularity provides additional proof of Japan's growing interest in MMORPGs played on PCs.

HUE managing director Jinho Shin had his own spin on the game's success: He described the beta test's popularity as an endorsement of the game's high production values and new perspective on MMORPG gameplay.

Hanbit Soft is one of the top five game publishers in Korea, and it has licensed Granado Espada to operators in a number of other countries, including Singapore, Vietnam, Australia, and Taiwan.