Video games in South Korea

South Korea has developed a strong economy in Asia through the development of creative industries (i.e. Online Game). New York Times culture writer Seth Schiesel has commented "When it comes to gaming, Korea is the developed market... When you look at gaming around the world, Korea is the leader in many ways..." Statistic provided by Korea Creative Content Agency shows that the industry has gained an average growth of 14.9% in sales since 2008. This statistic may reflects an increasing interest in online gaming, especially the youth. Although it is difficult to mark an exact period that is responsible for increasing trend in online gaming; however, it is quite clear that gaming has become much more than activity for leisure.

South Korea has been known for their pre-eminent infrastructure in video gaming, and their dominance in eSports scenes. Many of the best video game players and coaches in the world were trained or originated from South Korea, and the country's pro leagues and tournaments across numerous video games are often acclaimed by many to be the "most prestigious and competitive".

History

1980s–1990s

In January 1975, three units of the relabeled Pong machine Computer TV were installed in the Midopa Department Store in Seoul. The newspaper explained it as a "TV game" and said that big companies such as Samsung and Goldstar (now LG) were producing new machines, most of them Pong clones. Until the end of the 1970s, "electronic entertainment rooms" quickly spread around the country, despite fierce opposition by conservative parents, media and the regime. By 1980, only 43 arcade establishments were government-approved, while many hundreds were opened illegally. The Korean video game industry started as mostly an import market, getting machines from Japan and the USA. Since it didn't have any form of localization, the arcade manufacturers would put names in Hangul, making some name changes such as "Donkey Kong" becoming "King Kong". Eventually, Korean companies started to develop their own arcade games. One of the first arcade games to be developed by a Korean company is Goindol, released in 1987 by SunA. It was also the first one to be released outside of Korea, with the company Sharp Image Electronics licensing it for North American distribution. Sharp Image licensed three other arcade games from SunA and Philko for release in North America, and also licensed Kaneko's Air Buster for release in North America. In 2001, a company called GameVision licensed six arcade games from Expotato, Andamiro, SemiCom, and Excellent Soft Design for release in North America. GameVision also developed a Game Boy Advance port of Tang Tang, which was released by Take-Two Interactive.

Home computers were a luxury import in Korea in the late 1970s and software programming was the domain of institutes like KIST. In 1983, domestic computers – which were clones of Japanese and American models – started being distributed as well as computer magazines. In March of the same year, companies like Samsung started to offer computers to schools to raise a computer-savvy generation. These same companies would host software competitions, but most of the programmers that won those competitions developing games preferred to use their knowledge for more serious software or jobs. In 1984, the computer models became more standardized, with almost all new models based on either MSX or Apple II standard. This made it easier to import and copy foreign games, as there was no copyright law in Korea at the time for computer programs.

In December 1985, Daewoo released the Zemmix, a MSX-based video game console. It was the first domestic gaming hardware success, owing its sales to the huge number of imported and bootlegged games available. Because of that, domestic game development wasn't seen as necessary until July 1987, when a law protecting copyright ownership of computer programs was enacted. This led to the creation of small businesses with the intention of producing and publishing games. The country's first fully-fledged computer game was Sin'geom-ui Jeonseol, also known as Legend of the Sword, released for the Apple II computer platform in 1987. It was programmed by Nam In-Hwan and distributed by Aproman, being primarily influenced by the Ultima series.

Most of the stores that made unauthorized copies of games started to port them to Zemmix, the most representative publisher being Zemina, the first company to publish a domestic title, Brother Adventure, a Mario Bros. clone. However, the copyright law only covered the code itself, allowing the video game adaptation of foreign games. A group of Japanese companies (including Taito, Konami and Capcom) brought to court cases against Haitai and Young Toys, but failed to win anything because the games in question were released before the enactment of the law. Most of the original Korean games were made by independent teams, such as "Mickey Soft's Kkoedori" and "New Age Team's Legendly Night". The Korean company Topia was one of the first to begin producing action role-playing games, one of which was Pungnyu Hyeopgaek, for MS-DOS, in 1989. It was the first Korean title published for an IBM PC compatible and set in ancient China.

Foreign companies like Sega and Nintendo had difficulty entering the market, so they licensed out their consoles to Korean companies. Samsung took Sega's Master System, which was then released in April 1989 as the "Samsung Gam*Boy". Most of the games were released on Korea on their original languages, being Phantasy Star the first game to be fully translated to Hangul. One year later, the Mega Drive arrived with the name of "Super Gam*Boy", having in 1992 all Samsung consoles renamed to "Aladdin Boy". Samsung also produced its own game, a shoot 'em up called "Uju Geobukseon". Hyundai was the responsible for the releasing the NES, named Comboy. However, it didn't have any translated games.

The development of those systems started slow, as the software necessary was not as available as home computers. Most infringing companies found ways to simply convert MSX games to the Gam*Boy, due to their similar architecture. Two companies, Daou Infosys and Open Production, under the Jaem Jaem Club label, were responsible for a steady flow of domestic games for Gam*Boy consoles. Daou was known for its licensed game from the TV animation series Agi Gongnyong Dooly, which had a game released for the MSX. Open Production, on the other hand, was mainly responsible for original games, although most of them were platformers similar to other famous games, however, having completely original sprites, levels and gameplay. Three Open Production games were published in Australia, but only in 1995 when the Master System was already dead in Korea.

By 1990, the excitement for games developed in Korea declined. The lack of skill, budget, and manpower made it hard for the domestic developers to compete with imported games from Japan and the U.S. However, PC games started to rise. Until 1992, most of the games for PC were ports or adaptations of traditional boardgames or card games. When computers able to display colored graphics became more common, the industry started to produce games that could compete with consoles on the international market. Big companies started to invest in the development of games and Goldstar opened an educational institute for game developers on March 8, 1993. Localization of the games to the Korean language also became more frequent.

Two major Korean RPGs released in 1994: Astonishia Story, and an MS-DOS enhanced remake Ys II Special, developed by Mantra. The latter was a mash-up of Nihon Falcom's game Ys II (1988) with the anime Ys II: Castle in the Heavens (1992) along with a large amount of new content, including more secrets than any other version of Ys II. Both games were a success in Korea.

Commercial online gaming became very popular in South Korea from the mid-1990s. Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds, designed by Jake Song, was commercially released in 1996 and eventually gained over one million subscribers. It was one of the earliest massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Song's next game, Lineage (1998), enjoyed even greater success gaining millions of subscribers in Korea and Taiwan.

During February 24 to 27, 1993, Computer Edutainment and Game Software Festival - the first video game expo in Korea - was held at the electronic store complex in Yongsan, Seoul. The first edition of the festival had high-profile exhibitors such as Hyundai, but on the following years, only small developers would continue to carry it on until its extinction in 1996. On the other hand, the Amuse World expo started as a small event and kept growing steadily, evolving to the nowadays G-Star, the largest game industry event in Korea.

Home console predominance

Around January 1993, home consoles in South Korea were estimated to be present in one of every four houses. However, they are not as popular as they used to be. The console downfall started with a photosensitive epileptic seizure mass hysteria successfully spread by the Korean mass media. Although the initial epileptic seizure was proven not to be related to flashing light sensitivity, the newspapers would report new or old cases, connecting them with video games. The media would blame Japanese video games, even stating that the cases happening in the US and Canada were also caused only by video games from Japan. Video game sales were damaged, and Samsung reported a decrease of 71.4% during 1993 and Hyundai, 33%. The industry started to slowly recuperate but was slowed down by the decision of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, on July 1, 1993, to revise the censorship regulation, so that video games on CD-ROM or cartridge have to pass an evaluation by the Korea Public Performance Ethics Committee. The rating system of the committee was considered one of the most strict of the world in the 1990s.

2000s–2009 Korean online gaming

On November 11, 2001, the sprite-based Ragnarok Online, produced by Korean company Gravity Corp, was released. Though unknown to many Western players, the game took Asia by storm as Lineage had done. The publisher has claimed in excess of 25 million subscribers of the game, although this number is based upon a number of registered users (rather than active subscribers). 2002 also saw the release of MapleStory, another sprite-based title, which was completely free-to-play - instead of charging a monthly fee, it generated revenue by selling in-game "enhancements". MapleStory would go on to become a major player in the new market for free-to-play MMORPGs (generating huge numbers of registered accounts across its many versions), if it did not introduce the market by itself.

In October 2003, Lineage II (NCsoft's sequel to Lineage) became the latest MMORPG to achieve huge success across Asia. It received the Presidential Award at the 2003 Korean Game awards and is now the second most popular MMORPG in the world. As of the first half of 2005 Lineage II counted over 2.25 million subscribers worldwide, with servers in Japan, China, North America, Taiwan, and Europe, once the popularity of the game had surged in the West. All the objectives that are included in Lineage II started to take shape following the work of designing the original mythology.

2009–present transition to mobile platform

After the release of the iPhone, games like Angry Birds showed up on the market, showing off their success. Like that, in South Korea, the major game company Com2uS and Gamevil started to release their new games, Home Run Battle 3D and ZENONIA, on the market in 2009.

In 2012, Kakao launched their new service called Kakao Games and they released their first game, Anipang, which was a huge success to both Kakao and its developer, SundayToz. After the launch of Kakao Games, major video game companies like Nexon, Netmarble, and many other minor game developers began to give their attention to mobile platform.

In 2016, Netmarble released their new MMORPG game, Lineage 2 Revolution, by using Lineage's IP. The game grossed ₩206.5 million in one month, and it became a trend to make a mobile game based on a popular online game, such as Lineage, Black Desert Online, and Tera Online.

Recently in South Korea, gamers have been pessimistic about the video game industry in South Korea, saying the industry is in its Dark Ages. Many companies are still making mobile games, mostly, and focusing more on advertising than actual gameplay.