30 Million Concurrent Users, Over 100 Million Monthly Users
Krafton and Smilegate Rapid Growth Due to PUBG and Lost Ark Popularity on Steam
Nexon and Kakao Games Also Joining Steam One After Another
[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Domestic game companies accelerating their entry into the global market are consecutively launching their games on the gaming platform ‘Steam.’ Steam boasts over 100 million monthly users, and success on this platform directly translates to securing the title of a ‘global game company.’
"Overseas gamers recognized it first"... Steam that nurtured Krafton and Smilegate
According to the gaming industry on the 1st, Steam surpassed 30 million concurrent users for the first time on the 23rd of last month. This milestone came 2 years and 7 months after surpassing 20 million concurrent users in March 2020. While Steam’s user base mainly consists of North American and European users, the number of users from Asia, including China and South Korea, has been rapidly increasing recently.
The representative domestic game companies that gained worldwide recognition through Steam are Krafton and Smilegate. Krafton’s ‘PUBG: Battlegrounds’ first appeared on the global market through Steam Early Access in March 2017. After its official release, it recorded a peak concurrent user count of 3.25 million, gaining immense popularity. It still maintains its number one position on Steam and continues to be popular. Krafton, having secured global users through Steam, generated 94% of its revenue overseas as of the first half of this year, establishing itself as a global game company.
Smilegate is no different. ‘Lost Ark,’ released by Smilegate on Steam in February this year, gained popularity on Steam and has become the core intellectual property (IP) leading Smilegate today. Lost Ark has established itself as a popular game, surpassing 1.32 million concurrent users. Smilegate RPG, which develops and distributes Lost Ark, recorded sales of 489.8 billion KRW last year. Since Smilegate RPG is solely responsible for Lost Ark, the company’s performance directly reflects the success of Lost Ark.
Domestic game companies consecutively launch on Steam
Feeling the limitations of revenue growth in the domestic market, Korean game companies have begun aggressively targeting the global market through Steam. They plan to either introduce new titles via Steam or list games already in service on Steam to stage a comeback.
Kakao Games will release the Steam Early Access version of the new PC game ‘Distera,’ developed by Reality Magik, on the 24th of this month. Distera is a survival first-person shooter (FPS) game where players fight for humanity’s survival in a destroyed future, and it is expected to be a key title driving Kakao Games’ performance next year.
Nexon plans to globally launch all its new games, including ‘Warhaven,’ ‘First Descendant,’ and ‘Veiled Experts,’ through Steam. Among these, ‘Warhaven,’ which has been conducting playtests since the 12th, demonstrated high expectations by achieving 100,000 wishlist adds within just one week of testing.
Com2uS has selected Steam as the service channel for the upcoming North American release of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) ‘Summoners War: Chronicle’ (hereafter Chronicle) this month. The company plans to actively target users in North America, the world’s largest gaming market, including the United States and Canada. Chronicle is an MMORPG based on ‘Summoners War: Sky Arena’ and was previously released in South Korea. Com2uS plans to gradually expand the service regions based on the achievements and know-how gained in the Korean and North American markets.
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