The Gaming Industry in South Korea: A Complete Guide

Despite the pandemic, the gaming industry did not falter and continues to rise in growth and revenue. South Korea boasts its revenue and rise in growth as they compete with the other superpowers for the top place. The gaming industry in South Korea is the fourth largest in the world. They are just behind China, USA, and Japan, garnering around 6% of the global gaming industry. Given South Korea’s population, it is without a doubt a powerhouse in the gaming industry. 

In the 1990s, the South Korean government decided to focus on boosting their economy through the internet and telecommunications of the country. This switch in priorities paid them well since the gaming industry continues to rise. 

South Korea Gaming Industry’s Impact

In 2021, South Korea’s gaming market reached 15 billion dollars with almost half of it coming from its mobile gaming industry. This number was made possible through new players during the height of the pandemic. In fact, 2020 and 2021 were some of Korea’s biggest years in gaming. With it being fully digital, it was not negatively impacted by the pandemic unlike other industries such as sports events, art exhibits, and entertainment galas. 

Particularly, South Korea’s mobile gaming market saw a significant increase in downloads and usage. More than 50% of their online population play mobile games. Their gaming industry brings in a huge benefit to their economy that the Korean government decided to nurture the industry to its flourishing.

South Korea is the Esports capital of the world. With gamers having access to high speed internet connectivity as well as PC rooms all over the country, training for a league is accessible anywhere. The Esports scene is one of the biggest reasons for big game developers and game publishers to develop more competitive online PC and mobile games. Competition really is a driving force in a lot of scenes.

How to Penetrate the South Korean Gaming Industry

As game developers, you must be wondering how to penetrate Korea’s gaming market with your newly developed game. Here are some tips on what you can do to easily create a presence in their huge market. 

Market Research

It is important to do market research. Expanding into a completely new market is nerve wracking for every business owner out there. It takes a lot of money, time, and resources to venture into a new environment. Thus, it is essential to do market research in the target location.

South Korea’s gaming industry mostly focuses on competitive mobile gaming. If your game is targeted towards this certain demographic then penetrating the market will be difficult but once you do, it will definitely gain popularity and your expansion will bear fruit.

Game Partnerships

Another way to slowly enter the market is through game partnerships with big companies in South Korea. A lot of big publishers look for partnerships to increase their influence in the market. However, you have to check whether their guidelines fit yours and vice versa. Most of the time, big companies look for simple games they can integrate into their already built-in system.

Korean Game Translation and Localization

Lastly, you can translate and localize your game to Korean. Setting your game ready for translation and game localization, makes it more inclusive to the target audience you are trying to convert. Game localization is crucial in opening your game into a new market. It must be creative, should sound like a native, and adapt to cultural differences. Doing so, you will earn the hearts of many gamers who prefer to enjoy the game in their native language.

Korean Game Localization Services

Choose a company that provides creative and accurate game localization services. Look for a multilingual company that cares about your game. Game translation and localization is entirely different from the usual translation. It doesn’t help that Korean is a difficult language to translate into.

CREATIVE CONNECTIONS & COMMONS INC. offers high-quality, creative, and native-sounding game localization services. With a professional team of linguistic experts partnered with native speakers, who are also avid gamers, rest assured that you will receive only the best work for your project.

Partner with CCC and translate and localize your mobile/PC/console game through our Korean Game Localization services.