Soul of the Ultimate Nation (often abbreviated as S.U.N.) is a fantasy-based massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) produced by Webzen, a Korean-based company. It is operated in Korea by WebZen and in mainland China by The9. The game was launched in Taiwan on April 19, and in China on May 24, 2007 as a paid online service. ^{In December 2005, WebZen sold an export contract for the game to The9 for $13 million USD in total, which at the time was the largest single export transaction in Korea’s online game history. In 2006, S.U.N. was selected as the most anticipated online game at the 2nd Annual ‘Best Online Game Selection’ in China. In a survey by Gametrics, the largest Internet cafe survey website in Korea, S.U.N. was ranked among the top 10 games in Korean Internet cafes. Also, S.U.N. received the Award at the Digital Contents Awards by Ministry of Information and Communication and SK Telecom in 2006. Like some other MMORPGs, S.U.N. utilizes the "hack and slash" way. Players are part of a rebel group known as "The Guidance". Items can be strengthened and upgraded throughout the game play of SUN. For large-scale combat such as siege warfare, Soul of the Ultimate Nation utilizes a combat map with partitions that divides players into multiple fields each containing 20-40 characters; the outcome each battle having direct affects on the combat occurring on other fields. SUN also allows players to strategically set the stage for battles by choosing different types of maps, entry numbers, degrees of difficulty and types of monsters for a customized game play experience. SUN has three types of specified maps using a zone map system. Players start the game in a city and have to create zones to play the game. In terms of maps, the mission maps are the primary places where players can solve missions. The hunting maps are for tracking down monsters to level up characters, gather items and acquire in-game money. The quest maps are used to fulfill quests and to help users better understand the overall scenario of the game. The game has already undergone four stages of beta from September 2005 to May 2006 in South Korea, and received high marks from gamers. S.U.N. Taiwan moved from closed beta to open beta on 20 December, 2006. The current open beta is allowing the game developers to improve the field maps, add a competitive hunting system and a mission ranking system. SUN Korea adopted F2P mode and item mall model on November 14, 2006. NHN USA Corp., the publisher of SUN in North America which made a license agreement with Webzen on May 21st, 2009, and SUN Global (runned by Webzen), will also adopt the same model. S.U.N. is available for distribution and operation in North America through the gaming corporation ijji. Recently, Webzen announced that the company itself will be the second publisher of S.U.N. in the territories, where NHN USA doesn't have rights to distribute the game. A beta test of Webzen's version was held from October 14, 2009 until October 16, 2009. Webzen's S.U.N. version is coming out on October 21st, 2009}

SUN