Back On Track
Korea’s best 24-hour gaming business event PlayX4 2021 runs 10-14 May
Busines restarts
Coin Up
Gamevil gets into blockchain with $28 million Coinone investment
South Korea publisher exploring new opportunities
Welcome Aboard
Krafton adds four new board members
Ahead of its launch of PUBG New State
Chasing Cats
Tom and Jerry: Chase soft-launches in Japan and South Korea
NetEase decline to comment on future
All In
Com2uS acquires majority stake in Kritika developer AllM
The deal includes mobile games subsidiary Funflow
This Week In Asia
This Week in Asia: Nintendo Switch hits 1m sales in China, Apple's App Store purge, and Honor of Kings' revenue reign
All of the hottest stories from the region
New Partnership
Tilting Point forms live-publishing partnership with South Korean firm Storytaco
"Storytaco has done a great job of creating a narrative-driven game that has captivated audiences, and this partnership allows us to bring that thrilling storyline into the hands of even more players"
Building Up
Gardenscapes beats out local heroes Everyone’s Marble and Anipang in Korean puzzle market
Crunching the data with App Annie
Blown To The Top
Nexon’s The Kingdom of the Winds: Yeon is #1 Korean action RPG
Crunching the data with App Annie
Pgc Digital
PGC Digital: South Korean mobile games market sees increase of 15% under pandemic
The market is estimated to be worth $9.8 billion by 2026
This Week In Asia
This Week in Asia: G-STAR unveils 2020 speaker line-up, Honor of Kings hits 100m DAU, and PUBG pulled in India
Our roundup of top stories from the region
Ip Expansion
Webzen to release popular webtoon Slave B in France through Delitoon
"progressive Strides"
Com2uS purchases Out of the Park Developments
"We expect OOTP to become a key part of our officially-licensed sports management product lineup"
This Week In Asia
This Week in Asia: Black Desert franchise hits $1.7 billion revenue as Nintendo ceases 3DS production
The biggest stories from across Asia
This Week In Asia
This Week in Asia: Apple Korea is providing $84 million to small businesses and Fall Guys is going to mobile in China
The biggest stories from across Asia
Righting Wrongs
Apple Korea is providing $84 million in support programmes for small businesses
$33.6 million will aid South Korean manufacturers
Done Deal
Smilegate teams with Amazon to bring one of its games to the West next year
"Amazon Games is uniquely positioned as a publisher to reach entirely new audiences"
Feel The Music
Amanotes teams up with YG Entertainment to bring K-pop music to its games
Including iKON, BIG BANG and BLACKPINK
Western Launch Incoming?
Update: Bethesda and Gaea Mobile launch Fallout Shelter Online in Asia
Available to download in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, and more
Pride
Netmarble sales up 11.6% as Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross starts strong
"We are anticipating significant growth in sales and profitability in our second quarter"
Mmorpgs Rule
South Korean mobile games market still grinding
Crunching the data with App Annie
App Annie
China mobile game downloads skyrocketed by 80% in February 2020
63 million installs per week
Back Of The Net
Nexon signs deal with EA for a new FIFA mobile game in South Korea
Beta testing begins in April
Coming To Asia
Curve Digital partners with H2 Interactive to bring some of its Switch games to Asia
Publishing deal extends to South Korea and Hong Kong
Screenplay Written
Sony Pictures teams with Smilegate for Crossfire film adaption
Tencent's movie arm on board to co-produce and finance
Nexon Financials Q4 Fy19
Nexon profits grow to $1.03 billion as MapleStory M sees impressive revenue growth
Q4 was also successful for the company
Get Into South Korea
South Korea mobile game opportunities - and how to unlock them
South Korea has always presented a unique challenge for Western mobile games publishers, but recent regulatory changes mean the doors are opening
South Korea Exclusive
NCSoft's Lineage 2 M generates $152 million in three months
$97.60 average revenue per download
Better Pay Check
Nexon Korea offers a 6.8% pay rise to its employees
Last year 600 employees protested for increased wages
To The Top
Netmarble appoints chief global officer Seungwon Lee as new co-CEO
Will focus on core games business
A Few More Knights
South Korean dev Npixel raises $25.9 million in series A funding
Reportedly the largest series A round ever for a South Korean game dev
Cut Losses
Nexon sells off mobile developer Gloops for one Japanese yen
Japanese studio was purchased for approximately $470 million in 2012
G-star 2019 Record
G-STAR reveals 2019 success: over 240,000 visitors attend the South Korean games event
Record attendance at B2B conference G-CON to boot
Oh My Stars
Supercell's Brawl Stars generates $422 million from first year
South Korean players make up $93 million of the overall total
Another World
Black Desert Mobile launches on iOS and Android globally
$1 billion franchise arrives on mobile devices
Big Indie Pitch
Relax and unwind as Lo-Fi Room walks away as The Big Indie Pitch at G-Star champion
Relax and unwind with our G-Star 2019 Big Indie Pitch top three
Anticipated
Black Desert Mobile picks up 4 million pre-registrations pending December launch
Franchise has already made $1 billion in gross sales
Event Preview
Schedule for G-STAR 2019 released
Includes the 2019 Korea Game Awards and Game Investment Market
Big Indie Pitch
Win FREE Big Indie Expo Table at G-Star 2019 - ends Tuesday
The Big Indie Pitch returns to South Korea's largest gaming expo for the third year running
Eastern Promise
Southeast Asia powered Gravity’s Ragnarok M: Eternal Love to $50 million a month
We speak to Gravity COO Yoshinori Kitamura and delve into the data
Seamless Loading
NCSoft's latest potential mobile blockbuster Lineage 2 M set to release in Q4
Previous titles Lineage M and Lineage 2 Revolution both made over $1 billion
Project Xcloud
Microsoft partners with SK Telecom on 5G-based cloud gaming in South Korea
“Partnerships, like the one we announced with SK Telecom today, are critical to continuing that trajectory and moving the gaming industry forward”
Global Expansion
Virtuos expands with new offices in Montreal and South Korea
"As we continue our global expansion plan and open new offices around the world our mission remains focused on creating great games”
New Partnerships
Tencent Cloud chases new partners in South Korea and Southeast Asia as it plots international growth
The division has set a goal for five-fold international revenue growth
Global Advertising
The top global game advertisers in the US, Japan and South Korea for June 2019
SocialPeta data shows which games are generating the highest number of ad impressions
No Sale
Update: South Korea's Nexon no longer up for sale following lack of buyers
CEO Jungju Kim apparently wasn't impressed by the list of companies who stepped forward
G-star
East meets West at G-STAR 2019, Asia's largest game exhibition in Busan, Korea, on November 14-17th - early bird registration now open!
Join over 2,000 trade visitors from 36 countries and nearly 700 exhibitors at Asia’s most accessible show
Nice
South Korea reaches one million 5G users in 69 days
Service took 80 days to reach the same number for 4G
East Meets West
East Meets West: Hong Kong region focus, final bids submitted for Nexon acquisition, and analysis on China's hyper-casual market
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market
Nexon Acquisition Battle
Netmarble, Kakao and others submit final bids for Nexon
KKR & Co, Bain Capital and MBK Partners also join the fray, but there's no direct deal from Tencent