Increase in Homebodies Due to COVID-19... Surge in Game and OTT Consumption

Increase in Stay-at-Home and Bangkok-Jok Instead of Going Out
Surge in Mobile Game and OTT Usage
Lineage2M Weekly Active Users Reach 160,000
Paid IPTV Movie Purchases Also Rise

[Asia Economy Reporters Jin-gyu Lee, Chae-eun Koo] #1. Office worker Kim Hyung-seok (35) will enter his third week of working from home on the 11th. Many changes have occurred in Kim's daily life over these three weeks. Spending all his time at home regardless of weekdays or weekends, the time he spends watching YouTube or playing games has greatly increased. Kim especially enjoys NCSoft's 'Lineage 2M,' which he never dreamed of playing during work hours. Without worrying about other employees' eyes, he sets the game to auto-battle mode (where the character automatically fights to level up) during work hours and uses his breaks to play the game bit by bit.

#2. "#CoronaHomePlay, #Netflixing, #Masterpiece, #BangkokGram" College student Jang Seong-hoon (22) says that posting Netflix tags on Instagram has become his only joy. Since the start of the semester was delayed and he spent more time at home, he was able to binge-watch content on Netflix, which is called netflixing. When looking for domestic content, he uses free trial passes from Wave, Seezn, or Watcha Play. Jang said, "While staying at home, I tend to watch a lot of videos, and besides Netflix, I also like watching YouTube, so I am considering purchasing an ad-free premium subscription."

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has increased the number of 'homebodies' and 'roombodies,' changing entertainment culture. New domestic mobile games are gaining popularity, and the use of online video streaming services (OTT) that aggregate domestic and international content is surging. More people are enjoying games, movies, and dramas on smartphones and laptops at home instead of going out. As work-from-home continues and schools nationwide postpone opening, this trend is expected to persist for some time.

Weekly Active Users Over 160,000... Lineage 2M Gains Popularity

According to mobile big data platform company IGAWorks on the 11th, the domestic mobile game Lineage 2M, which was released on November 27 last year and successfully gained popularity, recorded 164,442 weekly active users (WAU) from February 24 to March 1, maintaining over 160,000 users every week. Due to this popularity, Lineage 2M has held the top spot in the Google Play revenue rankings in Korea for 15 consecutive weeks since December 1 last year. The game's average daily revenue last month remained in the 4 billion KRW range. Although this is slightly lower than the 4th quarter of last year (4.5 to 5 billion KRW), marketing costs decreased by about 20%, and the revenue effect was reflected in the previous quarter, leading to widespread expectations of an 'earnings surprise' in the first quarter.

Watching Movies on OTT Instead of Theaters

OTT services are also gaining popularity. CJ ENM's TVING saw total viewing time increase by 75.4% as of March 1 (compared to January 19), and the number of viewers rose by 63%. Wavve, the joint OTT platform of the three terrestrial broadcasters, recorded a 16.4% increase in live broadcast viewing over six weeks before and after the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Korea. Netflix, the leading OTT platform, also saw an increase in users. According to AppMinder, the number of Netflix app users rose from 920,000 in the first to third weeks of January to 1,040,000 in the first and second weeks of February, a 12.8% increase. Consequently, the total number of online movie ticket purchases also surged. According to the online box office, paid IPTV movie purchases in February (3.26 million) increased by 81% compared to the same period last year (1.8 million).

COVID-19 Reflects in Q1 Earnings... Changes in Consumption Patterns

Experts diagnose that the entertainment consumption landscape is changing due to COVID-19. The gaming sector is expected to benefit significantly in the first quarter. Kim Chang-kwon, a researcher at Mirae Asset Daewoo, explained, "Due to COVID-19, indoor stay time for gamers has sharply increased, creating a favorable environment for mobile game performance." There is also a prediction that OTT consumption will broaden. Choi Min-ha, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said, "With increased OTT usage due to COVID-19, middle-aged and older adults, who previously had low purchase rates through online video services, will experience the convenience of these services, accelerating changes in consumption behavior toward online video services in the future."