[Asia Exclusive] "Smilegate Stove, a Mobile·PC Game + Entertainment Content Platform"

Interview with Han Young-woon, CEO of Smilegate Stove
Services popular games including global No.1 'Lost Ark'... Focus on indie games for global market
Amateur discovery platform... Support and investment initiatives underway
Expecting to expand game ecosystem through diversity of indie games
'Peeple' multiparty video service launching in second half of the year

Han Young-woon, CEO of Smilegate Stove, is being interviewed on the 12th at Smilegate Campus in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung, Seongnam aymsdream@

"Stove will create a space where developers, creators, and users worldwide can freely showcase their creations and turn imagination into reality."

This is the ambition expressed by Han Young-woon, CEO of Smilegate Stove, whom we met on the 16th at Smilegate Campus in Pangyo, Seongnam. He envisions developing Stove into a comprehensive game service platform encompassing both mobile and PC games, and in the long term, nurturing it into a content platform that can cover various entertainments such as VR.

Separated as an independent corporation from Smilegate in August 2016, Stove has grown into a global social game platform covering PC, mobile, VR games, and indie games. It currently services two popular PC games: the globally top-ranked MMORPG "Lost Ark" and the casual racing game "TalesRunner."

The main focus for global platform expansion is indie games. Stove discovers solo and amateur game teams and supports them to easily sell their games on the platform, while also preparing investments in games and development teams with global hit potential. Last year, Stove announced its leap as a global social game platform company by achieving the largest revenue growth since its founding and posting its first profit. CEO Han expressed confidence, saying, "This will be the first year that Smilegate Stove truly becomes a global game social platform company."

- The share of indie games is increasing in the domestic game industry

▲ Indie games are not a separate genre. The indie market itself is about small groups of people coming together to try new things. Indie games have as much diversity as their creators, and the goals they pursue are also diverse. Currently, the game industry is dominated by a few game categories, but I believe new attempts by creators can broadly change the entire game ecosystem. Recent games focused on healing, such as raising pets or managing aquariums, are good examples. Although not a main focus from the perspective of the entire game industry, indie games will play a very important role in continuously growing and expanding the game ecosystem.

- What is Stove’s global competitiveness among anti-monopoly operators like Steam and Epic Games?

▲ The era of competing on features is over. Stove’s competitiveness lies in active communication between creators and users within the indie game ecosystem. I believe that through user participation, the maturity and completeness of our platform will improve. This approach benefits not only the platform but also creates a virtuous cycle where creators, users, and the platform can all coexist and prosper.

- The company turned profitable after six years of losses

▲ The game market continues to grow. In the past, specific genres led growth, but now diversity has expanded. Multiple "carriages" are pulling the market. Stove fundamentally aims to be a platform. Success as a platform requires investment and time. The process of turning profitable was not only about cost-saving. We have continuously invested in future-oriented projects like private clouds and are still doing so. I believe the result is a good combination of preparation for the future and current achievements, so the future looks bright.

Han Young-woon, CEO of Smilegate Stove, is being interviewed on the 12th at Smilegate Campus in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. / Seongnam = Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

- Please explain in detail about the private cloud

▲ This is an enterprise-level service Stove is preparing. When people think of cloud, they usually think of public clouds represented by AWS. While very convenient in terms of usability, the cost structure increases significantly the more you use. Depending on the company or situation, public and private clouds can be mixed, or only private clouds can be used. Currently, Stove is building and testing a private cloud internally, investing time and resources with a long-term view for the future.

- Smilegate’s games seem to have greatly helped achieve profitability

▲ A meaningful point in achieving profitability was the good synergy between the game business and the platform. The global success of Lost Ark and Epic Seven was a big help. We plan to greatly expand the entry of new intellectual properties (IPs) domestically and internationally. Not only new IPs from Smilegate Group but also IPs from external developers such as Wildborn and KARDS will be introduced. Additionally, we closely monitor how users respond to onboarded games and what difficulties they face, continuously making improvements.

- You are about to launch the next-generation social video platform ‘P.pool’

▲ In the pandemic era, solutions like Zoom and MS Teams have been widely used due to increased remote meetings and work. We felt these solutions were somewhat "rigid." We wondered if these solutions could be used beyond work, in a more casual way to provide various kinds of enjoyment. After much consideration, we created this service. While it is similar to Zoom in terms of multi-party video communication, it adds casual social elements. The goal is commercialization in the second half of this year. We are currently working internally to improve its completeness.

▲ Born 1974 ▲ Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Seoul National University ▲ 2002 Daum Communications ▲ 2003 NHN Entertainment Business Division ▲ 2005 NHN_Hangame Strategy Team Leader ▲ 2010 CEO of Usersquare Co., Ltd. ▲ 2012 Head of Kakao Commerce Business Division ▲ 2014 Co-founder of Populars Co., Ltd. ▲ 2016 Head of Smilegate Stove Operations Business Division ▲ 2019 CEO of Smilegate Stove

Interview by Myung Jin-gyu, Head of IT Science Department aeon@asiae.co.kr

Organized by Kang Nahum, Reporter nahum@asiae.co.kr