[INTERVIEW] Gravity seeks new revenue streams, upgrades 'Ragnarok' franchise, business director says

Games & Webtoons

Published: 20 May. 2023, 06:00

[INTERVIEW] Gravity seeks new revenue streams, upgrades 'Ragnarok' franchise, business director says

Gravity's business director Harry Choi speaks in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at the game company's office in Mapo District, western Seoul, on May 9. [GRAVITY]

New York-listed game developer Gravity is seeking fresh revenue streams within and outside its iconic Ragnarok franchise, such as diving into the screen golf business and diversifying its game genres.

The game company still enjoys its decades-long heyday with the intellectual property (IP) of the Ragnarok franchise, with more than 30 titles released since the launch of the massively popular multiplayer roleplaying game (MMORPG) Ragnarok Online in 2002.

Now, Gravity is intent on finding the next Ragnarok IP and has some 30 ongoing projects, including blockchains, consoles, and non-fungible tokens (NFT).

A new roleplaying game (RPG), X Heroes: NFT War, co-developed with Gravity's subsidiary Gravity Neocyon and game publisher Me2on, was released globally except for Korea and China in April.

WITH: Whale In The High, Gravity’s first mobile idle game, will be globally released sometime in the second quarter of this year. [GRAVITY]

The company's first-ever mobile idle game WITH: Whale In The High, is slated for global release sometime in the second quarter of this year.

Gravity's effort is not limited to releasing game titles. The company is also diving into a whole new business sector of screen golf in the overseas market this year.

Dubbed "Golf Monsters," the new brand was first revealed at "Taipei Game Show 2023" in February, where monsters from the Ragnarok IP are integrated into the screen golf business.

The company's Taiwan subsidiary is planning to establish its first facility there.

"Domestically, the screen golf business is already a red ocean as Kakao Games dominates the market," the company's business director Harry Choi said in a recent interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at Gravity's office in Mapo District, western Seoul.

"However, it's an up-and-coming business in Southeast Asia, especially for countries like Taiwan. I don't believe there's a case where a company runs its own screen golf business, so we would be the first when we establish our first facility there. I think it's because going out to the golf field is cheap, so companies may have believed there weren't a lot of demands. However, regions in Southeast Asia can get hot and humid and have unpredictable weather conditions, and we believe that those factors may attract consumers to indoor facilities. By fusing screen golf with Ragnarok IP, and considering the fact that the general age group of golfers has gotten younger, more people would be introduced to Ragnarok games and other titles by Gravity."

Monsters from the Ragnarok franchise are incorporated into Gravity’s upcoming screen golf business dubbed “Golf Monsters.” [GRAVITY]

Albeit to criticisms from gamers who say Gravity has been riding on the popularity of its Ragnarok titles long enough, the company openly admits the franchise to be the most profitable and iconic IP.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Ragnarok Online, Gravity rolled out another Ragnarok trilogy — Ragnarok: The Lost Memories, Ragnarok Arena and Ragnarok X: Next Generation between 2020 and 2023.

Ragnarok X: Next Generation is the latest and final title of the 20th-anniversary trilogy that landed in Korea in January. The MMORPG was initially released in other Southeast Asia regions in 2021. For the trilogy, the company released the titles overseas first and domestically later.

Choi said the company adopted this strategy due to a distinct characteristic of Korean gamers.

"Compared to other regions, the speed at which Korean users consume the content is much faster than other regions," Choi said.

Ragnarok X: Next Generation is the latest and final title of the trilogy that was released domestically in January to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Ragnarok franchise. [GRAVITY]

"As for Ragnarok X, the domestic response has not been explosive, but it's consistently going upward. It's because we applied a play-to-earn business model, different from typical MMORPGs that use the 'loot box' system. We are also proud of our internal exchange system because we allow all items to be autonomously traded among the users. Even for player killing items, users can participate in a live auction to attain them. We are not involved in how users get their items, unlike other MMORPGs."

Other Ragnarok lineups this year include MMORPG Ragnarok M: Eternal Love, which will be released in Vietnam by the fourth quarter and RPG Ragnarok: The Lost Memories will be released in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau sometime this month.

MMORPG Ragnarok Begins, initially released in North America last November, is scheduled to be released in other regions this year.

"Ragnarok franchise is an IP of the century," Choi said. "Between 2002 and 2003, we've launched the title across Korea, Japan, Taiwan and other regions of Southeast Asia — and I believe that it is Ragnarok that led the Hallyu. Everywhere we went within Southeast Asia, all the gamers knew and enjoyed Ragnarok between 2002 and 2004. It's also the first online game from Korea to be released worldwide."

The game company is also taking a step-by-step approach to developing and publishing its very own console game, forming partnerships with other companies to learn their know-how and experiences.

"We've formed global publishing contracts with PC and console titles such as ALTF42 by Pumpkim [in March]," he said. "But it's not easy for domestic game companies to dive right into creating one by ourselves because, for one, it's very expensive, and we lack the infrastructure. Unlike mobile and online games, console games have to be perfect when they come out — there's no going back or fixing something once it's released. So we are trying to start with securing publishing rights over consoles to acquire the know-how, hire related experts, and ultimately create a master console title."

Based on first-quarter earnings, 54 percent of Gravity's revenue is generated from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, while 23 percent is from other Southeast Asia regions. Although headquartered in Korea, the game company has eight other subsidiaries worldwide, including Japan, the United States, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

Gravity and another Korean social casino game developer DoubleDown Interactive are also the two sole Korean game companies listed on Nasdaq.

"Our vision for the headquarter and eight subsidiaries abroad is to become a Gravity of its own," Choi said. "For instance, although other companies may have subsidiaries abroad, they exist to support the domestic headquarter. But for us, each subsidiary is run independently, each with its own set of goals. We are structured to run our own businesses autonomously and, when needed, to collaborate. So our subsidiaries abroad help us to strengthen our overseas business."

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]