Blizzard's 'Overwatch' debuts in Korea's top 3

Visitors queue to enter the BEXCO exhibition hall in Busan, Sunday, for a look at Blizzard Entertainment’s new online shooting game “Overwatch.” The company said it drew more than 20,000 visitors to the event. / Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment Korea

By Yoon Sung-won

Blizzard Entertainment’s new first-person shooter (FPS) game “Overwatch” is drawing heated popularity from gamers here, becoming the third-most-played computer online game Wednesday, the day after its release.

According to data from Korean gaming market researcher Gametrics, “Overwatch” had an 11.7 percent market share, surpassing Nexon’s “FIFA Online 3” at 5.9 percent.

As the new title has already achieved Blizzard Entertainment Korea’s goal, expectations are high on “Overwatch” posing a threat to longstanding popular online games Riot Games’ “League of Legends” and Nexon’s “Sudden Attack,” currently in the top two spots. “League of Legends” broke a record in the Korean gaming market last week as it held the top spot for the 200th week with a share of over 34 percent.

“Our goal with Overwatch in the Korean market is to make it placed in the third or a higher spot in the chart of most-played online games at PC rooms here,” said Kim Jung-hwan, managing director of Blizzard Entertainment Korea. “In the domestic online gaming market, top-ranking titles have remained solid for a long time and it is difficult to topple their dominance and thus I think being included in the top 3 is meaningful. I believe we can do better.”

Blizzard Entertainment provided an open beta service globally for one week ahead of the launch of “Overwatch,” drawing more than 9.7 million users, which is a record-breaking number for the company. In Korea, the game ranked fourth on the most-played chart.

“Overwatch” is Blizzard Entertainment’s first FPS. Players choose one of 21 characters with unique roles and skills and join teams of six players to compete against opposing teams.

The U.S. gaming company has drawn much popularity with its strategy and role-playing games such as the “Starcraft,” “Warcraft” and “Diablo” series both in Korea and other parts of the world.

“Overwatch” is Blizzard’s first game that does not provide offline single player mode. Players need to connect with others and form teams to play the game. For this reason, Blizzard Entertainment Korea has stressed that it will tap into the nationwide PC rooms as one of the main distribution channels for its new titles.

The company said it will set up a team dedicated to handling businesses involving PC rooms and release services and promotional events tailor-made for Korean gamers.

Blizzard Entertainment Korea held a launching event last weekend for “Overwatch” in Busan, drawing more than 20,000 gaming fans.