Online Games Market in Korea

The “Online Games Market in Korea” report provides an in-depth analysis of the Korean online games market and contains an executive summary; seven years of forecasts for the online games platforms; inhibitors and drivers to growth; deep marketplace analysis; discussion of key market players, trends in online games, mobile and social games, and strategic conclusions. The study contains:

Korean game operators are deploying their cash and expertise to expand into international markets. Their areas of expertise such as free-to-play, micro-transactions and casual games can be deployed to the United States, Europe, Japan and rest of Asia.

Nexon derives more than 50% of its revenues from overseas. Nexon's Maple Story has more than 130,000 maximum concurrent users in the United States. Japan, known for being a console market, is a top priority for Korean game operators. NHN, Korea's largest search engine provider and one of the top four game operators in Korea, has more than 36 million registered users in Japan.

China still remains elusive, with two major Korean game operators restructuring their business there. However, Neowiz, saw international sales jump more than 30%, in part due to the success of its online titles in China.

The report contains a section on smartphone penetration and games publishing. Approximately 61% of Korean smartphone users play games on their phone. Game developers are rushing into the mobile games market which is discussed in the study along with mobile game market projections. In a market dominated by Samsung, LG and other local handset manufacturers, Apple has been able to carve market share with 2 million and counting units of the iPhone being sold in Korea.

Profiles on YNK, Com2us, Gamevil, SK Telecom, Joymax, NCsoft, Nexon, CJ E&M, Neowiz, NHN.

The study includes an analysis of CJ Internet’s merger, NCsoft’s launching a baseball team, NHN’s launch of Tera, the effect of the “Cinderella” law limiting gaming hours for users 16 years and younger, and other trends.

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Pearl Research, a business intelligence and consulting firm, specializes in the Internet and technology markets with a special focus on emerging markets and platforms. Pearl Research publishes in-depth research reports and provides customized research and consulting services.