NCSoft buys mobile dev Hotdog studio. So what are they planning?

NCSoft has developed/published a multitude of PC-based MMO games across multiple genres although most are MMORPGs but have always tip toed around the whole mobile scene. With their recent hit from last year, Aion, they did release an app called Aion Exchange. So what this this purchase of Hotdog Studio about?

With Aion Exchange you could manage certain aspects of your account in Aion such as managing their characters, inventories and auctions. Basically like the World of Warcraft remote app for Android but with less features. NCSoft also mentioned that with Guild Wars 2 that there would be a similar app available for smartphone users when the game launches. NCSoft did mention that the Guild Wars 2 app would have more functionality included in it than it's older Aion brother such as chatting, real-time map viewing and other features that, to this day, have yet to be announced. Well that time is nearing but is that really what this purchase was about?

While it could very well be that, it also could be NCSoft finally looking at mobile gaming as another market to get into. If that is true then you could expect more MMO games arriving on Android sometime in the future. That is a big if though but considering the change from tip toeing around mobile for the most part to jumping right out and buying a development studio, it is possible. They wouldn't be the first either to announce major gaming plans for mobile. Recently Aeria Games announced a mobile version of their game's portal with mobile games in development and community features exclusive to mobile visitors.

BigPoint Games is also another major game developer of PC-browser games who have plans to jump right into the mobile gaming arena in the near future. Unfortunately though NCSoft isn't releasing a whole lot of information behind the purchase of Hotdog Studio but we have a feeling it isn't just to develop more functionality for the Guild Wars 2 app. Hotdog Studio has developed a few games for smartphones as well. So what do you think this means?

Website Referenced: Gamasutra