My humble opinion on Nexon's path.

They certaintly are trying though. Didn't they buy out atlantis or whatever that games called? Then they offered on valve, although it was a joke irrc

Didn't the company that had Atlantica Online die? So they kinda just...acquired it from a dead company. I get that you still have to bid on it and everything, but it's much easier to get an IP from a dead/dying company than it is from one still going strong.

I would be surprised if they ever thought they were going to have a chance at Valve, too.