Sami Kizilbash, who leads the developers relations program at Google Inc., speaks during a media session for the Indie Game Accelerator 2022 program streamed online on Dec. 13, 2022, in this photo provided by Google Korea.
SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has great potential for the booming online gaming industry thanks to its high-speed internet infrastructure like the fifth-generation (5G) network service, a senior Google official said Tuesday.
“In Korea, cloud gaming is poised for success on account of the country’s globally renowned internet speeds and 5G infrastructure,” Sami Kizilbash, who leads the developers relations program of the U.S. tech giant, said in an online media session for Google Play’s Indie Game Accelerator (IGA) 2022 program.
Cloud gaming, also known as gaming on demand, refers to a type of online game that streams video games to an internet-connected device.
The IGA is an annual digital accelerator program for high potential indie games studios across the world, and four Korean game developers were selected for this year — Drakemount, Hoit Studio, The Sane Studio and TheAnd Company.
Kizilbash also said the relatively large number of South Korean gamers lends support to the country’s game developers.
The country with a population of 50 million has 33 million gamers, the fourth-largest number in the world, following China with 685 million, the United States with 191 million and Japan with 75 million.
The Google official said along with South Korea, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is leading the global gaming market, whose revenue is expected to reach US$340 billion by 2027.
“APAC is the place to build great games for the world,” he said. “APAC is anticipated to hold the largest market share in the gaming industry by 2027, led by China, Japan, Korea and India.”
(Yonhap)
