Netmarble's Raven sweeps 6 game awards
Netmarble ST Chief Executive Yoo Suk-ho accepts the grand prize for its mobile game “Raven with Naver” during the 2015 Korea Game Awards at the BEXCO exhibition center in Busan, Wednesday. / Korea Times photo by Yoon Sung-won
By Yoon Sung-won
BUSAN ― Netmarble Games has clinched the nation’s top game award with Raven with Naver and raked in five more prizes for the same title.
Korea’s top mobile game company has consolidated its sweeping upturn with Raven, which has broken several market records in downloads and sales.
During the 2015 Korea Game Awards ceremony held a day before the opening of the G-Star game show here, Raven won the grand prize and the top developer’s prize. It also scored awards for scenario, sound, graphics and domestic popularity.
For Netmarble, which exceeded NCSOFT this year to become the nation’s no.2 game firm in sales, Raven brought in its first grand prize. The title also became the second mobile game to win the grand prize, following Four Thirty Three’s mobile action RPG Blade for Kakao last year.
“Raven was made when we faced severe hardships as a start-up,” said Netmarble ST Chief Executive Yoo Suk-ho after receiving the grand prize. “I would like to thank all Raven users and our employees. We will donate all the prize money to promote a healthy gaming culture here.”
Raven was developed by Netmarble Games subsidiary Netmarble ST. When it was launched on March 12, in five days it became the top-grossing title at Google Play in Korea. It also attracted more than 1 million daily users in 40 days, hit 5 million cumulative downloads in 78 days and recorded 100 billion won in cumulative sales in 99 days, the company said.
The Korea Game Awards, organized by the Korea Internet Digital Entertainment Association since 1996, are the nation’s most prestigious.
Meanwhile, Nexon’s online RPG Maple Story 2, which competed with Raven for the grand prize, came in second.