2022 Expected to Reach 22.7 Trillion Won
4th Place in Global Game Market Share with 7.6%
[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency published the "2022 Korea Game White Paper," which summarizes the statistics and trends of the domestic and international game industry in 2021, on the 2nd.
In 2021, the domestic game industry's revenue was recorded at 20.9913 trillion KRW, an 11.2% increase compared to the previous year. This is the first time the domestic game industry market size has surpassed 20 trillion KRW. Exports also increased by 5.8% from the previous year, reaching 8.67287 billion USD (approximately 9.9254 trillion KRW).
The number of workers in the domestic game industry in 2021 was identified as a total of 81,856. Among them, 45,262 (55.3%) were engaged in game production and distribution, and 36,594 (44.7%) were engaged in game distribution. Following 2020, the number of workers in game production and distribution exceeded those in distribution.
Meanwhile, the Korea Creative Content Agency projected that the domestic game market size in 2022 would reach 22.7 trillion KRW, and the game industry is expected to continue steady growth with ongoing efforts to expand platforms and diversify genres.
Game Production and Distribution Still Centered on Mobile
In 2021, mobile game revenue was 12.1483 trillion KRW, accounting for 57.9% of the total game industry revenue. Following that, PC game revenue was 5.6373 trillion KRW (26.8% market share), console game revenue was 1.052 trillion KRW (5.0% market share), and arcade game revenue was 273.3 billion KRW (1.3% market share).
Compared to the previous year, revenues generally grew across game platforms (PC game growth rate 15.0%, mobile game growth rate 12.2%, arcade game growth rate 20.3%, console game growth rate -3.7%). Game distribution venues such as PC bangs and arcade game centers, which saw significant revenue declines in 2020 due to COVID-19, showed signs of recovery thanks to eased social distancing measures.
Korean Game Industry Maintains 4th Place with 7.6% Share of Global Game Market
The global game market size in 2021 was 219.758 billion USD, an 8.7% increase from the previous year. Korea's share of the global market was 7.6%, maintaining 4th place after the United States (22.0%), China (20.4%), and Japan (10.3%), the same ranking as the previous year. The share rose from 6.9% to 7.6%, narrowing the gap with 3rd place by 0.7 percentage points. By platform, PC games held a 13.2% share, ranking 3rd after China and the United States, while mobile games held a 10.6% share, ranking 4th after China, the United States, and Japan.
In 2021, Korea's game industry export value reached 8.67287 billion USD (approximately 9.9254 trillion KRW), a 5.8% increase from the previous year. Export shares were in the order of China (34.1%), Southeast Asia (17.0%), North America and Europe (each 12.6%), and Japan (10.5%). Imports increased by 15.3% to 312.33 million USD (approximately 357.4 billion KRW), the highest in the past seven years. Although exports to China slightly decreased compared to the previous year, the export share to Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America increased, indicating some success in export diversification.
The "2022 Korea Game White Paper" contains various industry information, including surveys and analyses of domestic game companies and game distribution venues, and is available through the Korea Creative Content Agency.
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