Asian MMOs are developed today for the Asian market. This market is completely different from ours. However, the Asia MMOs are supposed to work in the West as well. Do many markets spoil the broth? Or can cultures eventually come together and give way to a kind of global gaming culture?
The absence of internet cafes in North America and Europe was a culture shock for a Korean visitor. After all, they are an important reason for the success of Free2Play MMOs in Korea. The markets are different. Can they grow together?
Asian MMOs designed for a completely different market
The CEO of Nexon in America, Min Kim, gave a talk at DICE in Europe about the different MMO markets, which is now receiving a lot of attention. He explains why it’s so difficult to develop an MMO for different markets and why this could change one day.
When he first came to America, he couldn’t believe that there were no “PC gaming cafes” there, Kim said. They are an important part of the MMO market in his home country of South Korea. The cafes do so much good for the MMOs in Asia. They do marketing for the game, players sit together, which is good for the community: All of this is something you wouldn’t know or understand in North America. Through special deals, MMOs also partly finance themselves with these cafes.
A sign of how different the markets are and how differently this affects their requirements for a game.
Kim explained that at the moment, developing for different markets feels like cooking in a kitchen for very different guests. One market wants this, the other that. Then someone asks for a specific feature. But what appeals to one market might reduce the success of the game in another market: “What works in Korea doesn’t have to work in America.”
It is the case that if MMOs are designed for a specific market and then brought to another, they may achieve some level of success, but will never take off as they do in the core market.
League of Legends proves that world hits are possible
So is it possible, Kim asks, to develop a game from the ground up in a way that it meets the needs of all markets around the world, that everyone likes it? He thinks: Yes. In the coming years, it might already be time. A game like League of Legends proves that.
For this to happen, the kitchen needs to come directly to the players. This era will begin and completely change gaming.
My MMO says: The differences between the individual markets and especially the influence of internet cafes can currently be seen at ArcheAge. A “for every hour you are online, you will be rewarded” system can be explained through this IP fee and contradicts our habits in Europe: We are reluctant to leave our PCs on overnight. While game halls have nearly disappeared in Europe, they have developed into internet cafes in Korea, and it is quite normal to pay by the hour. It is clear that games developed for such a market are designed quite differently and struggle here with us. A much-discussed topic is also the gender-lock popular in Asia or upgrade systems for individual items.
Will 2015 be the year of the Asia MMO and will we be able to cope with it?
The year 2015 could be the year for us Europeans when we are properly confronted with Asia MMOs: Black Desert and Blade and Soul are both on the verge of the leap. ArcheAge has already made it. Other titles like Bless Online or Skyforge will also come with a culture shock. Here, the cultural differences will once again play a significant role.
It will be interesting to see if the markets, as Kim believes, really change and if we will agree on a globalized taste we will savor in a few years. Hopefully, this global market won’t lead to a uniform blend.
