What’s happening in Korean Game sector (also Korean Gamers’ Top 10 Favorites)

Clockwise: Sudden Attack, Dungeon & Fighter, Counterstrike Online: Zombie, Freestyle

It is no news that Korea has been a market leader in production and distribution of online games. Korea’s online games are known to be highly adaptive, addictive, and profitable. With its efficient production model and long term revenue model from recurring user fees, it stands quite competitive against console games which have been the dominant game form for decades. Already vastly popular in Japan, US, China and other Asian countries, Korea’s online games have also been increasingly gaining ground in Europe and South America. Hence Korean games make up more than 50% of the total online gaming market.

…
Within Korea’s online game Mecca, there are also those games that take the spotlight, those gamer’s favorites that have been ceaselessly on the top spots.
The most Popular Online games in Korea Top 10 for 2nd week of May are:
1. Sudden Attack                                      - FPS
2. Dungeon and Fighter                             - Action RPG
3. Aion: Tower of Eternity                          - MMORPG
4. World of Warcraft                                  - MMORPG
5. Maple Story                                          - MMORPG
6. Fifa Online 2                                         - e-Sports (Soccer/football)
7. Freestyle                                              - e-Sports (Basketball)
8. Lineage                                                - MMORPG
9. Counterstrike Online: Zombie Scenario   - FPS
10. Lineage 2                                           - MMORPG

…
This ranking is from Game Meca  Online Games, which is based on the game awareness and game access traffic data aggregated from popular search portals, PC game room access time, online gaming traffic data, game website visitors, and Game Meca user rankings.
As you can see most of the games are categorized amongst one of three forms, FPS (First Person Shooter), MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online role play game) and e-Sports (electronic sports). It is no secret that Korea has been a leading nation of online multiplayer games, but these games have been refusing to give out their top spot for months!

MMORPG games such as Aion, WOW, Maple Story and Lineage seem to be filling up most of the spots on the list. However, maintaining the #1 slot consistently for over a year is ‘Sudden Attack’, a free-to-play multiplayer first person shooter online game. I had introduced it in as earlier article for its placement of celebrity characters such as Rain and Jessica Gomez to further promote its game attraction.

…
eSports also seem to be also gaining more ground. ‘Fifa Online 2’, the online football games has always been in the leading spot, making headlines as a representative strategic collaboration between Korea’s number one game company Neowiz and the world renown software producer EA(Electronic Arts). And with the upcoming World Cup 2010, Fifa Online 2 can expect more attention to its way. However, for games such as ‘Freestyle’, the multiplayer online basketball game is one of the only games to recently make its way on to the top 10 list, going up four spots from the previous week. Also another e-Sports game, Pro Baseball Manager has made it a huge leap over eleven spots to hold its place on #12 this week.
It appears like FPS, MMORPG and e-Sports games are going to remain on the forefront of Korea’s online gaming industry, the apple of the eye for Korean gamers, and likely to continue stirring the interests of international game developers.