Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Nexon’s Mabinogi Mobile wins 2025 Korea Game Awards
Devcat CEO Kim Dong-gun, center, receives the grand prize at the 30th Korea Game Awards ceremony at BEXCO convention center in Busan, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Nam Hyun-woo
By Nam Hyun-woo
BUSAN — Devcat, a Nexon studio, won the grand prize of the 30th Korea Game Awards with its hit title Mabinogi Mobile, which is based on the intellectual property (IP) of Nexon’s 2004 title, Mabinogi.
During the award ceremony at BEXCO convention center in Busan, Wednesday, Mabinogi Mobile won the top honor over competition including Nexon's The First Berserker: Khazan, Netmarble’s Seven Knights Re:BIRTH, Neowiz’s Lies of P: Overture and other hit games.
Mabinogi Mobile is a mobile massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that was released in March. It successfully brought the atmosphere and content of the original Mabinogi game into the mobile environment, achieving 3.64 million cumulative downloads and topping Google Play and Apple App Store game charts.
“During the development (of Mabinogi Mobile,) my grandmother passed away,” Devcat CEO Kim Dong-gun said after winning the prize. “Because Mabinogi was inspired by the stories she used to tell me, I thought about her a lot while working on the game.”
Unlike many MMORPGs which focus on action and battles, the original Mabinogi gained popularity with low-key content such as fishing, cooking and playing music. The new version successfully brought the features and atmosphere into the mobile environment, bringing younger users into the game.
Instead of pushing excessive in-game purchases and pay-to-win systems, the game encourages player interaction through collaborative quests. Industry officials said that this strategy helped the title maintain over 700,000 monthly average users.
Mabinogi Mobile also won two additional awards for its scenario and sound, proving the enduring strength of the original IP.
Neople CEO Yoon Myung-jin speaks at the 30th Korea Game Awards at BEXCO convention center in Busan, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Nam Hyun-woo
Another Nexon unit, Neople, took second place and won the technology creation award in the graphics category with The First Berserker: Khazan. It is Neople’s first full-fledged console title, and gained global popularity through its tight action, cohesive storytelling and unique visuals.
Netmarble’s Seven Knights Re:BIRTH, RF Online Next and Neowiz’s Lies of P: Overture won third place awards. Seven Knights Re:BIRTH also won an award for popularity among gamers.
Seven Knights Re:BIRTH is a remake of an IP released in 2014. While maintaining its turn-based role-playing system, the title features enhanced graphics and battle effects powered by Unreal Engine 5. After release, the mobile game topped the domestic charts of the two major app markets and maintained high rankings on charts in more than 20 countries, including in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.
Netmarble had three games nominated for this year’s awards — Seven Knights Re:BIRTH, Vampir and RF Online Next — demonstrating the group’s development success.
Lizard Smoothie, which developed the action title Shape of Dreams, won best indie game and best developer awards. NX3 Games, run by Smilegate, won in the category of social contribution awards.
Since 1996, the annual Korea Game Awards has honored game developers and studios that have contributed to the domestic game industry. It is organized by the Korea Association of Game Industry (K-GAMES) and presented by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Starting this year, the awards revised the grand prize’s weighting to 50 percent expert evaluation, 25 percent public vote and 25 percent media vote, giving greater influence to game users than in the past.
The awards are widely accepted as a pre-event for G-STAR, Korea’s largest annual gaming convention. This year's G-STAR runs for four days from Thursday at BEXCO, with over 1,300 game studios, publishers and other game-related firms from 44 countries participating.
This year, NCSOFT will participate as the main sponsor, showcasing its upcoming MMORPG AION 2. Netmarble will also make a strong appearance at the show, unveiling four new titles, including Project EVILBANE and Solo Leveling: KARMA.
Krafton will unveil its next title, Palworld Mobile, for the first time at the show. Global publishers such as Blizzard, Sega and Bandai Namco will also participate and operate experience zones.