"Mabinogi Mobile" Named Best Game of the Year... Nexon Secures Six Awards

"Mabinogi Mobile" Sweeps Grand Prize and Technical Creation Awards
Neople's "First Berserker: Kazan" Wins Three Awards Including Excellence Award
Three Titles, Including "Seven Knights Rebirth," Share the Excellence Award

Nexon's "Mabinogi Mobile" was crowned the best game of the year at the "2025 Korea Game Awards." The title swept three categories, winning the Grand Prize (Presidential Award), the Technical Creation Award for Technology and Scenario, and the Technical Creation Award for Sound.

Donggun Kim, CEO of Nexon Devcat (center), is giving his acceptance speech after receiving the Grand Prize (Presidential Award) for "Mabinogi Mobile" at the "2025 Korea Game Awards" held on the 12th at BEXCO in Busan. Photo by Kyungjo Noh

"Mabinogi Mobile" received the Grand Prize at the Game Awards held on the 12th at BEXCO in Busan. Eight titles, including "Mabinogi Mobile," Netmarble's "Seven Knights Rebirth" and "Vampyr," and Neowiz's "P's Lie: Overture," were nominated for the Grand Prize, making for a fierce competition.

This year's judging was based on 50% from the jury, 25% from the public vote, and 25% from the media vote. The weight of both the public and media votes increased by 5 percentage points each compared to last year, making user participation a significant variable.

Developed by Nexon's subsidiary Devcat and serviced by Nexon, "Mabinogi Mobile" quickly became one of Nexon's core intellectual properties (IP) after its launch in March this year. Within just 50 days of release, it surpassed 10 million downloads and accumulated sales of 41.7 billion won, and in seven months, cumulative sales exceeded 300 billion won. In September, it ranked first in monthly active users (MAU) in the mobile role-playing game (RPG) genre, and last month, it topped the sales rankings on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

Nexon plans to expand the user base of "Mabinogi Mobile" to include those in their 50s and 60s and to continue with a global launch next year. Donggun Kim, CEO of Nexon Devcat, said, "It took a long time to make this game. I would like to thank the Devcat team who worked hard together and everyone at Nexon for their unwavering support."

Nexon also won the Excellence Award (Prime Minister's Award) with Neople's "First Berserker: Kazan." This game also won the Technical Creation Award for Graphics, and voice actor Lee Hyun (real name Lee Jaehyun), who played the character "Blade Phantom" in the game, received the Popular Voice Actor Award, making it a triple winner. As a result, Nexon took home a total of six awards.

Myungjin Yoon, CEO of Nexon Neople, said, "There were many fun moments during development. At an overseas game show, a staff member at a merchandise shop told me, 'Thank you for making this game.' We will continue to deliver greater happiness and enjoyment through fun games and strive to provide excellent service."

Jiwon Choi, Director of Neowiz ROUND8 Studio, is giving a speech after receiving the Excellence Award for "P's Lie: Overture" at the "2025 Korea Game Awards" held on the 12th at BEXCO in Busan. Photo by Kyungjo Noh

The Excellence Award (Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award) was jointly awarded to Netmarble's "Seven Knights Rebirth" and "RF Online Next," as well as Neowiz's "P's Lie: Overture." The Indie Game Award went to Lizard Smoothie's "Shape of.Dreams."

The "Korea Game Awards," hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by the Korea Association of Game Industry, is the most prestigious domestic game awards ceremony, recognizing Korean-made games released each year. Last year, Netmarble's "Solo Leveling: Arise" won the Grand Prize.

Minister Choi Hwi-young of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism delivered a congratulatory speech, stating, "Over the past 20 years, games have transformed into a new stage of complex media industry in line with technological and lifestyle changes. With diversified platforms and improved graphics processing units (GPUs) meeting artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, games have become a '21st-century cultural art' enjoyed simultaneously by tens of millions."

He continued, "Games are a core content industry and a key export driver contributing to economic development. As public-private efforts to gain a competitive edge in the global market become increasingly important, the government will work even harder to revamp outdated systems and regulations, strengthen production support through investment, foster game talent, support global exports, and revitalize the industry ecosystem."

Meanwhile, following the awards ceremony, "G-STAR 2025," the largest game exhibition in Korea, will be held at BEXCO from the 13th to the 16th. Major domestic game companies, including main sponsor NCSoft, as well as Netmarble, Gravity, and Webzen, will unveil their new titles.