At the mention of South Korea, most people must instantly think of Korean teleplay and Korean stars. They are collectively known as K-Pop (short for Korea-Pop) and enjoy a high reputation worldwide. Actually, it has entered a K-Game era. According to reliable data, the output value of K-Game industry is 14 times as much as that of K-Pop industry. K-Game has become the new pillar industry of South Korea and opened up overseas markets at an annual 50% growth rate of export volume.
Recently, the president of CJ E&M's game portal Netmarble stated that the Korean market is basically saturated. If game companies want K-Game industry to keep growing, they must export more games to China and America and expand their overseas market by establishing subsidiaries and purchasing other overseas companies.
South Korea is a leading country in terms of game development throughout the world, though it suffered some negative news this year, like teenager's internet addiction, etc. As for the export volume, K-Game is currently the most potential and fastest growing industry in South Korea. As disclosed by Korea Culture & Contents Agency, until March, the volume of cultural exports reached 3.3977 trillion won (approx. US$ 2.96 billion) and the game exports accounted for 53.3%, nearly 1.8121 trillion won (approx. US$ 1.56). However, the representatives of K-Pop, including Girls' Generation, Kara and Dong Bang Shin Ki only achieved 134.7 billion won overseas sales, which only accounts for 7% of the game export volume, so the output value of K-Game industry is 14 times as much as that of K-Pop industry.
With an increase of 300% in the export volume compared to 4 years ago, Korean games have already been the new synonym and brand products lf Korean culture. At present, Korean games can be found anywhere the internet is available. In comparison with 2010, the export volume of Korean games this year has been increased by 34% over the previous year, hitting US$ 2.16 billion. Export volume also is the biggest contribution to the total revenue of many Korean game companies, including Nexon. Since more companies will march into overseas markets, it is expected that the export volume of Korean online games will exceed US$ 3 billion.
