SEOUL, KOREA- Korea is losing its reputation as an online game superpower with an increasing number of local game companies being engrossed in importing foreign game titles without developing their own games.
Among ten online games that are scheduled to be released within the second half of this year, about a half of them will be foreign-developed ones. The share of foreign games in Korea’s online game market, which is now standing at around 50 percent, is expected to grow further if this trend continues unchecked.
According to a game market research firm Gametrics, the most popular game at Korea’s Internet cafés is “League of Legend,” developed by Riotgames, a subsidiary of China’s Tencent. League of Legend has a market share of 39.2 percent.
This is not enough to explain why Korea’s online game industry is facing a crisis. There have been cases where well-made foreign games like Starcraft and Diablo occupied a high market share in Korea. The real problem is that the number of Korean online game companies which are engaged in introducing foreign games is increasing.