Valve's Doug Lombardi has dropped us a line announcing plans to bring Counter-Strike to Asian markets, effectively positioning the world's #1 most played online first-person shooter in the most insane competitive gaming circuit in the world, where StarCraft reigns supreme. The drop comes by way of a new partnership with Nexon, publisher of the wildly popular MapleStory, which boasts an impressive 57 million users worldwide. From the release:

"It is our utmost pleasure to be able to develop Counter-Strike Online with Valve," said David K. Lee, CEO of NEXON Japan Co., Ltd. "We will be devoting our expertise in online game development and service know-how for Asian territories to Counter-Strike Online. Already a global phenomenon, we are confident we can grow the success of Counter-Strike with this new product by tailoring the gameplay for the millions of gamers in Asia, one of the gaming industries fastest growing territories."

Under the agreement, Nexon will develop and publish Counter-Strike Online in South Korea, Japan, China, and Taiwan. While the game doesn't seem the most likely candidate for runaway success in the Asian market, we might be surprised -- I know I'm not the only one who didn't expect to see Kerrigan's face on a bag of chips, after all.

Hit the jump for the full press release.

NEXON AND VALVE ANNOUNCE COUNTER-STRIKE ONLINE FOR ASIA

Leading International Studios Join Forces to Extend the World's #1 First Person Multiplayer Game

Bellevue, WA -- July 27, 2007 - Award-winning game and technology studios Valve and Nexon today announce Counter-Strike Online, a new online version of the world's number one first-person multiplayer game that will be tailored for Asia.

Counter-Strike, first released in 1999, is the world's number one first person multiplayer game, generating over seven billion player minutes per month and having sold over nine million retail copies worldwide. Nexon is the Korean-based publisher and developer of blockbuster titles such as MapleStory and KartRider. Valve is the creator of many popular first person games and the Steam online platform for PC games.

Under the terms of the agreement, Nexon will develop and be the exclusive publisher for Counter-Strike Online in South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan. Services in Korea and Japan will be carried out respectively by its Korean and Japanese entities, NEXON Corporation (CEO: Joonmo Kwon) and NEXON Japan Co., Ltd. (CEO: David K. Lee), and in China and Taiwan through collaboration with local publishers.

"It is our utmost pleasure to be able to develop Counter-Strike Online with Valve," said David K. Lee, CEO of NEXON Japan Co., Ltd. "We will be devoting our expertise in online game development and service know-how for Asian territories to Counter-Strike Online. Already a global phenomenon, we are confident we can grow the success of Counter-Strike with this new product by tailoring the gameplay for the millions of gamers in Asia, one of the gaming industries fastest growing territories."

"With its hit titles such as MapleStory and KartRider, Nexon has become a dominant force in Asia," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "By combining their proven development abilities and leadership position in Asia with Counter-Strike's award-winning core gameplay, we have the recipe for customizing an online phenomenon for each of the Asian markets."

For more information about Nexon, please visit http://company.nexon.com. For more information about Valve and Counter-Strike, please visit http://www.steamgames.com.