Korea’s Online Gaming Craze

Posted by: Moon Ihlwan on September 04

South Koreans just can’t seem to resist the sheer entertainment value that their online fantasy and combat games deliver. According to statistics recently released by Korea Game Industry Agency, Korea accounted for just over a third of global online game sales last year. The revenues posted by Korean online game companies totaled $2.41 billion in 2007, or 34.5% of the worldwide online game market. The figure included $781 million worth of online games exported by the Korean companies.

A separate report released this week by Pearl Research, a San Francisco-based consulting firm specializing in the Internet and technology markets, shows top Korean game portals such as CJ Internet’s Netmarble, NHN’s Hangame, and Neowiz’s Pmang can attract 500,000 to 1 million unique visitors a day. More than 10 million Korean adults visit game portals every month, according to its estimates. That’s more than a fifth of the whole population.

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