Interview

PGC Hong Kong: Kunlun Korea GM Sean Lim on mobile market trends

Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong 2019 will take place on July 17th to 18th

PGC Hong Kong: Kunlun Korea GM Sean Lim on mobile market trends

Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong 2019 will take place on July 17th to 18th. To give you a taste of what to expect, we'll regularly be publishing interviews with the speakers at the show.

For more details on PGC Hong Kong and to book a ticket, head to the website here.

Today we're speaking to Kunlun Korea general manager Sean Lim, ahead of his session discussing mobile game market trends in Korea and how to publish successful campaigns in marketing, partnerships, localisation and more.

Prior to his role at Kunlun Korea, Lim held various leadership roles at Yahoo Korea, CJ Internet and LG Ad, not to mention a number of consulting positions across several games and market companies.

PocketGamer.biz: Could you tell us a bit about the company?

Sean Lim: Kunlun Korea is a Korean branch of initial public offering Chinese mobile game developers and publishers based in Beijing.

What does your role entail?

As general manager of the Korea branch I oversee the overall management, business developers as well as investment into online and mobile games. I work with publishers on client games, web browser titles or mobile.

Why did you want to work in the games industry?

Video games are at the epicentre of the digital entertainment content business. This is something that has always fascinated me, so when the opportunity arose for me to work in the industry I leapt at the chance.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into it?

The best advice I can think of is to play the widest and most diverse set of games you can get your hands on. It’s impossible these days to play everything but if you try to get some knowledge across all genres, it will help going forward.

What are your thoughts on the industry in the last 12 months?

Esports has grown once more, with MOBA’s becoming more popular too. On top of this, hyper-casual has seen significant growth and I expect it to only continue.

What major trends do you predict in the next 12 months?

Twitch is part of games culture now, so streaming will continue to expand. I imagine this will crossover into the mainstream culture more, thanks to the likes of Fortnite and whatever the next global phenomenon is.

How has the games industry changed since you first started?

Playing video games used to be solely single-player. What I mean by this is you were more likely to be playing games by yourself but now thanks to the power of online anyone can play each other across the globe. This has impacted the social side too, with content being shared in extraordinary amounts.

Which part of the Connects event are you most looking forward to and why?

I’m excited to see talks regarding user acquisition concerning game markets Asia, alongside any blockchain tactics.

Find out more about Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong 2019 on the website.


Deputy Editor

Matthew Forde is the deputy editor at PocketGamer.biz and also a member of the Pocket Gamer Podcast. You can find him on Twitter @MattForde64 talking about stats, data and everything pop culture related - particularly superheroes.