The gaming market in South Korea is in turmoil. With Netmarble, a new “big player” enters the stage. They focus on mobile MMORPGs and challenge the established companies for market share. The company is now valued at over 11 billion dollars, more than the previous giants.
The gaming industry in South Korea was relatively stable for a long time. The focus was on online gaming and PCs. In the famous “PC Bangs,” the internet cafes in South Korea, players came together to enjoy popular online free-to-play games like Lineage, Crossfire, or Dungeon Fighter.
NCSoft and Nexon were market leaders in South Korea for a long time with MMOs
Two South Korean companies were leading the way for a long time: NCSoft with games like Lineage, Blade and Soul, or Aion, and competitor Nexon, who published games like MapleStory.
Western influences have also been entering South Korean gaming for some time now. The passion of South Koreans for StarCraft and Warcraft 3 is legendary. Currently, Riot with League of Legends and Blizzard with “Overwatch” dominate the top ranks in the internet cafes.
But now it’s not about PCs anymore, but about “mobile gaming.”
While Nexon and NCSoft still need to make the leap into mobile gaming, struggling to balance between PC and mobile and losing some ground, they are being overtaken by another South Korean gaming company. By Netmarble.
Netmarble’s largest IPO in 7 years
The company “Netmarble” has gone public in Seoul, marking the largest IPO in South Korea in 7 years. The company’s market value exploded as a result of the IPO. The company’s valuation is estimated at 12.2 billion US dollars – which is about 11.15 billion euros.
Thus, Netmarble has a higher value than Nexon or NCSoft. It also leaves behind western publishers like Take-Two and Ubisoft. Only giants like Activision or Electronic Arts remain ahead of Netmarble in market valuations, according to Bloomberg.
What is the story behind Netmarble?
Netmarble – an exception to the rule
Netmarble was founded in 2000 by Bang Jun-Hyuk, who dropped out of high school. Most of his competitors, however, have university degrees.
Bang, however, did not function well in the South Korean school system, which values memorization of the curriculum. He sought another way.
Things operated differently for Bang than for his established competitors. He grew up in one of the poorer neighborhoods of Seoul.
In the conservative gaming market of South Korea, Bang early on focused on online gaming. In the late 90s, Bang faced setbacks: The infrastructure in South Korea could not support his plans. Bang wanted to offer internet services and suffered setbacks. But just a few years later, the South Korean government massively expanded the country’s internet due to a financial crisis. Bang was there to take advantage and elevate Netmarble.
With then unconventional ideas, Bang established Netmarble with games like “Sudden Attack” as a successful company and early on focused on the mobile market.
In 2006, however, Bang withdrew from the gaming industry for 5 years. Officially, it’s referred to as “unknown health reasons.” It sounds as if Bang suffered from some form of burnout. He stated that he rarely rested during that time, was tired and stressed.
Without him, Netmarble went through tough times and did not meet expectations. The publishing rights to “Sudden Attack,” the hit game, were lost. Nexon has been distributing the game since then. Many of the games that Netmarble released fell short of expectations.
The outlook for Netmarble in 2011 was anything but bright.
After 5 years off, Bang returned to save his company
The 48-year-old Bang Jun-Hyuk is now regarded as the “South Korean Steve Jobs” due to these difficult circumstances.
Like Jobs returning to Apple, Bang Jun-Hyuk also returned to his company when it was facing financial difficulties and has led it to new heights.
Since he has been back at the helm, he has fully oriented Netmarble towards smartphones and mobile gaming. With mobile titles like Marvel Future Fight and the MMORPG “Lineage 2 Revolution,” Bang has likely achieved breakthrough success.
Particularly the insane success of Lineage 2 Revolution has likely fueled the IPO and explosion of market value. Netmarble has also gained the support of the Chinese giant “Tencent Games.”
Netmarble and Bang have set their sights on the West. Their MMORPG mobile hit “Lineage 2 Revolution” could conquer the world as soon as June.
If this continues, we will surely hear a lot more from the “Korean Steve Jobs” in the coming years.
More about Lineage 2 Revolution:
Lineage 2 Revolution: The 1st complex online MMORPG for mobile?
