S.Korean game companies to launch new offensive in China

Major South Korean game companies such as Nexon, Netmarble Corp. and Smilegate from this month will roll out new titles on the Chinese market. 

Expectations are high with the release in China of games popular at home and abroad, with observers wondering if they can mimic the success of perennial favorites there such as Nexon‘s Dungeon Fighter Online and Smilegate’s Crossfire.

Video game industry sources on Sunday said Nexon from August 3 will officially release the subculture role-playing game (RPG) Blue Archive through Google Play and Apple's App Store.

Blue Archive has users lead private academy students to solve problems against the background of the virtual academy city Kivotos. The game targets Japan, the global hub of subculture.

After debuting in Japan in February 2021, it was released that November in 237 countries including South Korea and those in North America. In Japan, the game has topped the sales rankings of Google Play and the App Store.

China, where subculture-type video games are also highly preferred, is another prime target. During a two-week closed pilot period there that began on June 22, Blue Archive ranked first in popularity on major app markets.

The number of game reservations reached 3.4 million, and Nexon will target the Chinese market with localized content.

Smilegate on July 20 in China will release Lost Ark, a massively multiplayer online RPG popular not only in South Korea but also in Western countries. Its mobile RPG Epic Seven, which was released last month, also received a good response as a top 10 sales ranker in the Chinese App Store.

Netmarble is also targeting the Chinese market with new titles this year like Second Country: Cross Worlds and A3: Still Alive.

In recent years, Chinese authorities have tightened game regulations and rarely granted service licenses for foreign games, including those from South Korea.

In December last year and March this year, however, they issued a large number of licenses for such games. Industry analysts say the Chinese government has reversed its policy as the growth of its video game industry stopped due to stronger regulation.

Write to Seung-Woo Lee at leeswoo@hankyung.com