Online games hit new high

Exports of Korean online games have exceeded $200 million so far this year, almost double the amount exported all of last year, the Korea Game Development and Promotion Institute said yesterday. This year’s record amount is due to contracts that included multimillion dollar deals, as opposed to previous years, when profits were based mainly on royalties. “A few years ago, games like ‘Lineage 1’ were the only big games in the international market, but now the situation has changed,” said Kim Jin-suck, an official at the state-run game institute. “Online games aren’t as popular abroad as they are in Korea, which makes it a huge potential market.” According to the institute, exports of online games amounted to only $77.6 million in 2002. Also, online games made up only 55.23 percent of overall game exports in 2002, but last year, the percentage rose to 83.6 percent. Currently, Asian countries such as Taiwan, Japan, and China, are the primary countries that import Korean online games. For instance, RF Online, an online game developed by CCR Inc., was sold to China’s Wanma Internet Development Corp. in a deal worth $6 million, with an additional 30 percent of royalties. The game also sold to Taiwan for $3 million. HanbitSoft’s online game Granado Esparda has been sold to China as well, in a $6 million deal, even before it was released. Another developer, SunnyYNK, managed to get a $4 million contract with minimum of $6 million royalties for its game Seal Online. The industry expects more exports next year, especially since major publishers such as NC Soft are starting commercial services in Europe. Webzen, another large game developer, said yesterday that it is setting up an R&D center in China, saying that it has to expand its operations to cover the increasing demand for games. by Wohn Dong-hee