Korean Online Game Makers Tapping Asian Market

Korean online game makers are tapping the Asian market as information technology in the region is being installed to provide easier Internet access.

Korea’s popularity in Asia has also resulted in a positive image of the country, and this makes the Asian market the best for the industry’s growth, experts said yesterday.

Another force driving Korean game makers eastward is fierce competition in large existing markets such as Japan, China, Europe and the United States.

An industry source said Nexon began in Taiwan Thursday offering “Counter Strike Online,” a first-person shooter game.

Nexon said, “In a closed pilot test in May in Taiwan, 5,000 people signed up in just six minutes. Taiwan boasts 1.2 million first-person shooter gamers. We will set another new record there soon.”

Yedang Online has also launched the commercial online shooting game Ace Online.

The company said, “Our new game is the first of its kind in Thailand. Thais had never tried a flight shooting game before. We had a select group of gamers try it in the trial period and they showed great interest.”

CCR plans to launch the multi-user role-playing game RF Online in Vietnam in the first quarter next year.

Lim Gyun-nyeong, CCR director for overseas marketing, said, “The Vietnamese Information Ministry has selected online gaming as one of its top priority fields for digital content. Moreover, more than four million people there enjoy online games.”

Korean companies that have launched games in Asia have reported good results. CJ Internet launched an online baseball game in Taiwan in July last year after changing the game’s name for the Taiwanese market.

The game also features Taiwanese pro baseball players, ballparks and cheers, and has topped the Taiwanese online casual game list for more than six months.

Yedang’s online dance game Audition has commanded steady popularity since its debut last year. The game in Vietnam has 100,000 simultaneous users and tops the online casual game market in Thailand.

jhk85@donga.com