SEOUL, June 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean game companies with products featuring virtual coins and other blockchain functionalities are taking a wait-and-see approach towards the recent plunge in the prices of cryptocurrencies operated by them for in-game purchases and trading. Wemix, a cryptocurrency operated by Wemade Co., the developer of the play-to-earn (P2E) game [...]
SEOUL, May 20 (Korea Bizwire) — China’s unprecedented restrictions on the gaming industry are turning the eyes of South Korean game developers to India, another country with a massive population. Data.ai reported that the Indian version of Krafton Inc.’s global smash hit “PUBG: Battlegrounds” has topped sales charts in Apple’s App Store and ranked second [...]
SEOUL, May 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean game companies are increasingly setting their eyes on projects centered on virtual human character development, aimed at carving out new endeavors in non-gaming areas such as music and marketing sponsorships. Netmarble Corp. announced its plan to introduce its virtual character Rina, developed by its subsidiary Metaverse Entertainment [...]
SEOUL, May 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean game companies with products featuring virtual coins and other blockchain functionalities remain on heightened alert over adverse effects from the recent collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna cryptocurrencies, industry officials said Monday. Cryptocurrencies operated by South Korean gaming companies for in-game purchases and trading have undergone volatile [...]
SEOUL, May 14 (Korea Bizwire) — NCSOFT Corp., a major South Korean online and mobile game developer, said Friday its first quarter net income more than doubled from a year earlier, led by strong sales from the latest entry of its popular “Lineage” franchise. It logged a net profit of 168.3 billion won (US$130.6 million) [...]
SEOUL, May 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Kakao Games Corp., the gaming unit of South Korean tech giant Kakao Corp., reported Tuesday its first-quarter net profit rose 54.2 percent on-year to 28.3 billion won (US$22.3 million) thanks to the popularity of its mobile title “Odin Valhalla Rising” and improved cost management. Operating profit spiked 169.7 percent [...]
SEOUL, March 14 (Korea Bizwire) — With Yoon Suk-yeol set to be South Korea’s next President, the nation’s video game industry is reacting with mixed expectations and concerns. During the presidential campaign, Yoon stressed that video games are not diseases, pledging that he would ease regulations to keep abreast with global trends. Accordingly, the video [...]
SEOUL, March. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has increased its stake in NCSOFT Corp. to become the second-largest shareholder, according to a regulatory filing Friday. Public Investment Fund (PIF) acquired an additional 563,566 shares of the major South Korean online and mobile game developer for around 290 billion won (US$240 million) [...]
SEOUL, March 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Kim Jung-ju, the founder of gaming giant Nexon Co., has died, his company said Tuesday. He was 54. NXC Corp., the holding firm of Nexon, said Kim died in the United States late last month. “Please excuse us that we cannot explain in detail as all of his family [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean game developers are facing a crisis as their newest games are underperforming, failing to produce a clear blueprint to turn the blockchain industry into a new source of profit. The fourth-quarter operating profits of Krafton Inc., the gaming giant behind the global smash hit “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds,” fell [...]