Korean gaming market set to exceed $2 billion in 2011
With massive increases from overseas revenue it looks as if the Korean gaming market is set to continue expanding.
A report from Pearl Research has predicted that the Korean gaming market could exceed $2 billion in revenues next year as the country’s gaming companies are attempting to rapidly expand overseas business.
According to the report the top five Korean gaming operator’s revenues grew by more than 50% in 2009 thanks to large overseas growth.
Pearl Research reported that Nexon, the publisher of MapleStory and Dungeon Fighter Online have announced for the first time that non-Korean sales made up the majority of its global revenue of $585 million in 2009.
NHN the publisher of Soul of the Ultimate Nation set up their U.S. branch in 2007 and their U.S. revenues increased by 50 percent in 2009. Neowiz who publish CrossFire saw a huge increase of 526 percent in their overseas revenues up to $52 million which far outpaced all the other sections of the company.
Many new online business models have come from Korean companies, including features like charging for microtransactions as well as a monthly subscription fee. Pearl Research’s report said, “It remains to be seen if this hybrid model will be accepted by consumers and spread to other countries.”
There are many U.S. companies which are gaining in popularity in Korea. FIFA Online 2 from Electronic Arts was at the top of online game rankings at internet cafes for a while thanks to the 2010 World Cup. World of Warcraft from Bilzzard is also one of the top online games in the region.
There are a number of other U.S titles doing well including CJ Internet’s Sudden Attack, NCsoft’s Aion and Lineage series and Nexon’s Dungeon and Fighter.
According to the report games such as Blizzard’s StarCraft II will help expand the market but there are many factors such as government scrutiny which may dampen the growth.
