50 Trillion Won Chinese Market: 'Dungeon & Fighter' Declines, 'Black Desert' Rising [Buaeri's Game Dictionary]

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Pearl Abyss's 'Black Desert Mobile' is drawing public attention as it begins full-scale entry into the Chinese gaming market, which is worth nearly 50 trillion won, raising expectations about whether it will emerge as a new powerhouse. On the other hand, Nexon's 'Dungeon & Fighter (DNF)', once regarded as China's 'national game', seems to have lost some of its former influence recently.

According to Pearl Abyss on the 28th, Black Desert Mobile started its pre-registration yesterday on the official Chinese website, WeChat, Mobile QQ, Tencent News, and other platforms. iDreamSky, a Tencent subsidiary responsible for publishing (distribution and service) Black Desert Mobile in China, held a live broadcast of the 'Black Desert Mobile Presentation' yesterday.

Notably, Tencent itself is directly participating in the publishing of Black Desert Mobile this time. Tencent is a Chinese game company and the largest service provider. Because of this, domestic games heavily depend on Tencent. Partnering with Tencent is considered an essential strategy for entering the Chinese market.

The securities industry expects Black Desert to be officially released in the Chinese market within this year. Kang Seok-oh, a researcher at Heungkuk Securities, said, "Considering the pre-registration periods of past major Chinese market titles, Black Desert Mobile could be released in December," and predicted, "Initial daily sales will exceed 2.5 billion won."

Unlike the rising expectations for Black Desert's entry into China, the long-established DNF has recently seen a decline in users, which has also impacted its revenue.

Neople, a Nexon subsidiary and developer of DNF, recorded sales of 891 billion won and operating profit of 754.6 billion won last year. In 2019, sales were 1.1379 trillion won and operating profit was 1.0367 trillion won. Sales decreased by 22%, and operating profit by 27%. The reduction in DNF's Chinese sales affected overall revenue. Neople's Chinese sales dropped 26% from 1.074 trillion won in 2019 to 791.1 billion won last year.

Nexon's Chinese sales in the second quarter of this year also fell 30% year-on-year due to the decline in DNF users. Moreover, there is still no news about the release of DNF Mobile, which has been delayed by a year. There are also rumors that Tencent is strategically shifting its focus away from DNF and concentrating on Black Desert, which is about to launch in China. Regarding this, a Nexon official stated, "We are working on measures for mid- to long-term growth while improving current user satisfaction through stable service operations."

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