Game Companies Take Wait-and-See Approach Towards Plunge in the Price of Their Cryptocurrencies

An electronic board at a cryptocurrency exchange in Seoul shows cryptocurrency diving during a trading session on May 13, 2022. (Yonhap)

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 “MIR4 Global,” was trading for around 3,500 won on Thursday at noon, down about 37 percent over the previous month, according to data by virtual asset info website CoinMarketCap.

Kakao Games Corp.’s cryptocurrency BORA also saw its price plunge to about 390 won in mid-June from 550 won early this month.

The price of MBX, the virtual coin operated by Netmarble Corp, slipped by more than 30 percent from about 18,000 won to about 12,000 won during the same period.

Against this backdrop, game companies that are operating or preparing to launch P2E games are still proceeding with their existing projects while watching the market situation.

“The price of game coins has fluctuated over the past couple of years,” said an official at a game company running a blockchain platform.

“The recent plunge in the price of game coins can reduce the incentive for gamers to use P2E games, but we are not concerned since the nature of blockchain remains unchanged.”

J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)