South korea

Earlier today, South Korean developer Smilegate held a media event to announce the launch schedule for its highly-anticipated MMORPG, Lost Ark. Tons of info were released, including the Open Beta (also counted as official launch) date of November 7 in South Korea. Taking 7 years to developer and around 90 million USD to develop, the developer is keen to highlight how Lost Ark will display that MMORPG is still best played on PC rather than mobile devices. Below are some summarized details from the media event, read on! • Once again, the Open Beta (or official launch) for Lost Ark is on November 7 in South Korea. • As per developer talk, tons of feedback were gathered during the Closed Beta phases and used to improvise the game to its current form. • After launch, game updates will be divided into 3 different categories: Season, Episode, and Middle Update. • Season is the largest scale of the 3 categories, and it is mainly to prepare the game for future updates. … [Read more...] about – South Korea launch date announced for highly anticipated action MMORPG

Yesterday, big Korean game companies such as NCsoft and Nexon announced their financial reports for the 4th quarter of 2018 and also for the year. In Nexon’s latest presentation slides to shareholders, it was revealed that there are no PC games outside of South Korea planned for 2019, with the 3 “lucky” PC games being Ascendant One, Dragon Hound and Project BBQ. I doubt Project BBQ will make it for a launch this year though. Also, Nexon only has 1 mobile game prepared for the huge China market (usually under Tencent), which is definitely a shock. Plans do change, and Nexon might still spring a surprise title. Most of the games have been announced at G-Star 2018, so you can head over to this article or this tag for more details. Here are some key points from the presentation slides: • Overall, Nexon performed worse than expected in terms of revenue when comparing the 4th quarter of 2018 to the 4th quarter of 2017 (most comparisons are done this way). Both PC … [Read more...] about – No new PC games planned for 2019 outside of South Korea

A South Korean law passed last year has gone into effect, and it threatens to throw paid account boosters in prison. Last year the Korean government passed a new law banning the use and advertising of powerleveling services. The provisions of the law, below in their original Korean, were translated by Reddit user Evenstar6132 and notes that prosecution is based on whether or not the developer allows such practice, whether there was payment, and the frequency of the act. The law is not retroactive and of course people who don’t live in South Korea are not under its jurisdiction. It is worth noting that the prison sentence is apparently a “suspended sentence” of two years and a fine of up to $18,000. A suspended prison sentence for those unaware would not actually put the defendant in jail but acts as a type of probation. If the person does not commit a crime during that period, the jail sentence is dismissed. Source: Reddit … [Read more...] about IPE Update: Paid Account Boosting Now Illegal In South Korea

According to the Korean media, mid-size games developer Vespa, the creator of mobile RPG King’s Raid, has submitted a securities report to the Financial Services Commission in view of being publicly listed on KOSDAQ, the trading board of Korea Exchange (KRX). The number of shares available is reportedly 1,600,000, with each worth between 44,800 Won (39.50 USD) to 59,700 Won (52.70 USD). This means a minimum of 63.2 million USD! Founded back in 2013, King’s Raid has steadily helped Vespa become a force to be reckoned with in the saturated mobile gaming market. According to financial reports, Vespa made a operating profit of 6 million USD in the year 2017, massive for a developer which only launched King’s Raid early in the same year. Vespa is aiming to expand into other platforms, while also prepare for more mobile game launches in the 2nd half of 2019. … [Read more...] about – King’s Raid developer prepares for stock listing in South Korea

If you’ve ever been frustrated over online games refusing to disclose the odds of winning anything in lockboxes, then get ready to do a little fist pump for justice. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission just fined MMO company Nexon for its failure to do just that in a pair of its games. While companies don’t have to disclose odds for lootbox or “gacha” capsules in the west, in eastern countries it is much more regulated. Nexon was dinged for its failure to do this in 2016 for Sudden Attack and Counter-Strike Online 2 in a possible attempt to cheat players. The two fines levied against Nexon by the FTC are $5,000 and $900,000, respectively. The company said that it will comply by revealing gacha odds going forward. Source: MMO Culture. Thanks Leiloni!SHARE THIS ARTICLE … [Read more...] about Nexon is fined for using shady lootbox ‘gachapon’ techniques in South Korea