Native Games Flying High Overseas... Game Industry Accelerates Global Expansion Efforts

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Korean-made games continue to gain popularity in the global market based on their high gameplay quality. Unlike in the past when Korean games struggled to gain traction after entering the global market, the Korean Wave (Hallyu) has increased overseas users' interest in Korean games. This year, domestic game companies are successively making moves to enter overseas markets.

On the 20th, native games have been ranking high on the PC game platform 'Steam' charts for several weeks. Smilegate's 'Lost Ark,' which began global official service through the Steam platform on February 11, ranked 5th with nearly 500,000 daily concurrent users.

Lost Ark was released in over 160 countries including North America, Europe, South America, and Australia through Steam, and achieved a peak concurrent user count of 1.32 million just two days after launch, ranking second in all-time highest user numbers. Lost Ark secured more than 10 million new subscribers in Western markets such as North America and Europe, the world's largest gaming markets, pushing the total global user count, including Korea, past 20 million.

Crafton's 'Battlegrounds' has consistently maintained a top-tier position at 4th place. The record of 3.32 million concurrent users set when it first launched on Steam in December 2017 remains unbroken. Wemade's P2E (Play to Earn) game 'Mir4' is also ranked 14th, within the top 20. Mir4, the sequel to 'Legend of Mir 2,' gained positive responses from Western gamers by incorporating blockchain-based technology in addition to its inherent gameplay.

This year, domestic game companies' global market entries are lined up one after another.

First, NCSoft is targeting the global market with 'TL' and the 'Lineage W NFT version.' TL is a 'blockbuster' that has had over 100 billion KRW invested in development over the past 10 years. The Lineage W NFT version is NCSoft's first 'blockchain game.'

Notably, TL is being developed as a cross-platform game supporting not only PC but also 'consoles.' This indicates a strong intention to target the North American and European markets where console games are highly popular. The scheduled release is in the fourth quarter of this year. The Lineage W NFT version is set to enter the North American and European markets in the third quarter.

Kakao Games will successively release the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) 'Odin,' based on the world of Norse mythology, in Taiwan, North America, and Europe this year. Kakao Games expects the game to succeed in gaining popularity locally in North America and Europe, considering its setting based on Norse mythology.