The latest figures have shown the online gaming market in South Korea has boomed over the past 12 months, now the second largest market in the world, closely following China. Any developers launching themselves into the South Korean market would initially assume that this is a great thing for business, but at second glance, it could be the one thing that is stopping them. While impressive growth has been since in the industry, the statistics have also shown that gamers seem to be devoted to the established franchises, with NCsoft, Nexon, and Electronic Arts still holding strong throughout the country.
While the figures released are based mainly around PC online gaming, mobile game developers hoping to break into this market should make themselves aware of this potential barrier, with many social games nowadays jumping platforms from PC to mobile, or vice versa.
Source: www.biztechmagazine.com
Market Research Company IHS shed some light on the latest news, sharing that “Most growth came from a collection of established franchises some of which have been around for nearly a decade and one that launched way back in 1998. New games released during the year failed to break the stranglehold of these biggest titles underlining the entrenched nature of the market. With growth being driven from these established games it is perhaps no surprise that it was relatively suppressed at 8 percent.”
There is some good news in this mix for mobile developers, on both iOS and Android platforms, wanting to branch out to the South Korean market, with IHS continuing by saying, “In contrast, the mobile and tablet games market grew over 250 percent in 2013 and was worth over $1 billion for the first time.”
After 5+ years in development, we're excited ... 
