South Korean media: "Home ground has been captured", South Korean game competitiveness lags behind China!
On April 8, a South Korean media "Seoul Economic Daily" published an article stating that the competitiveness of Chinese games is rapidly increasing and poses a threat to the South Korean game industry. The export of South Korean games to China is declining. Meanwhile, with Chinese enterprises entering the South Korean market in large numbers, South Korean games have given up a considerable part of their home ground.
The competitiveness of Chinese games is rapidly increasing, posing a threat to South Korean games. It is predicted that even if South Korean games obtain service licenses, it will be difficult for them to succeed in the Chinese market.
In recent years, the presence of South Korean games in the Chinese market has been on a downward trend. According to the "South Korean Game White Paper" by the South Korean Content Promotion Agency, China's share in South Korean game exports has steadily declined year by year, dropping from 40.6% in 2019 to 30% in 2023.
While South Korean games struggle to enter the Chinese market, Chinese games dominate the South Korean market. As of last year, three out of the top five mobile games in South Korea in terms of purchase revenue were Chinese games.
Chinese games have grown rapidly because large Chinese game companies, with substantial capital, are accelerating improvements in game quality. In China, the foreign game distribution market is almost monopolized by major companies like Tencent and NetEase. The overall quality of Chinese games has quickly improved thanks to sales brought about by the Chinese game publishing business, as Chinese enterprises actively invest in game development.
In addition, unlike South Korean games, the burden of the fee system is lighter, which is also considered a reason for the popularity of Chinese games. Chinese games typically do not have a fee system or their chargeable items start at 1000 won (about 5 RMB), making them favored by casual users.
On the other hand, the issue of fee inducement is very serious for South Korean games, and the heavy fee system is considered one of the least popular factors.
There are concerns that the competitiveness of South Korean games in terms of quality, capital, and service is lagging behind, and its position in the global market is waning.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1828823954072576/
Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author alone.