Nexon, NC, Kakao Games... "Maintain Existing Prices as Much as Possible"
Worried About Price Increases Due to Differentiation from Google Play and Declining Game Competitiveness
[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Following Google Play Store, Apple has also raised in-app purchase prices on the App Store, putting the gaming industry in a dilemma. Although major game companies have stated that they will not increase the prices of items sold despite the App Store's in-app purchase price hike, they cannot continue to incur losses indefinitely. For game companies without new releases in the near future, price increases are inevitable to prevent a decline in profitability of existing games.
"We will not pass the burden of price increases onto consumers"
According to the gaming industry on the 30th, Nexon, NCSoft, Kakao Games, and others have announced through their respective game notices that they will try to maintain current prices as much as possible despite the App Store's in-app purchase price increase.
Apple announced that starting from the 5th of next month, it will raise the prices of payment currencies within the App Store in countries including South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Chile, Egypt, Poland, and Sweden. Apple divides its price list into a total of 87 tiers. For example, Tier 1 priced at $0.99 will increase from 1,200 KRW to 1,500 KRW, Tier 2 priced at $1.99 will increase from 2,500 KRW to 3,000 KRW, and Tier 3 will increase from 3,900 KRW to 4,400 KRW.
Due to Apple's policy change, existing sale prices may no longer correspond to a tier. In such cases, price changes due to product composition adjustments are inevitable, and consumer burden is expected to increase slightly depending on the changes.
For Kakao Games' 'Uma Musume Pretty Derby,' which is serviced domestically, a notice of product composition changes has already been issued on the Japanese server. The in-game currency, Jewels, which were previously supplied as 50 units for 120 yen, will be increased to 60 units for 160 yen, raising the price per Jewel and increasing consumer burden. Additionally, the previous supply of 2,500 Jewels for 5,020 yen was lowered to 5,000 yen without changing the number of Jewels. Similar adjustments are expected from domestic game companies as well.
Game companies urgently defending profitability engage in 'waiting game'
Currently, companies such as Netmarble, Com2uS, and Wemade, which have not issued special announcements, are reportedly deliberating whether to raise prices. Many of these companies do not have new releases planned in the near future or are preparing new titles based on various platforms such as PC and consoles rather than mobile games, making it important to maintain revenue from existing mobile games.
The problem is that they cannot simply raise prices. If item prices are increased only on the App Store, it could cause discrimination issues with Google Play users. Furthermore, since major game companies have expressed intentions to minimize price changes, there are concerns about losing competitiveness among games.
An industry insider explained, "In-game item prices are a very sensitive issue for users, so despite worsening profitability, it is difficult to make a decision on price increases easily. Once prices are raised, it is hard to lower them, and it could lead to price hikes on Google Play as well, so each game company is closely monitoring the situation."
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