Game firms to sell adult-only content in Apple App Store

Above is a poster for Neowiz's “Pmang Poker: Casino Royale.” The game company is preparing to launch the app for iOS users as adult-only games are now allowed to be released on the Apple App Store following a policy revision. / Courtesy of Neowiz

By Jun Ji-hye

Game companies here are seeking new business opportunities after Apple allowed them to release adult-only games on its App Store, company officials said Thursday.

The move comes as Apple and the state-run Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC) signed a revision to their agreement, Tuesday, that will allow the adult-only games to be bought through the store.

Before the revision, games that encouraged transactions between individual gamers, such as gambling-themed games, were banned on the Apple App Store here.

“The revision will open up new opportunities for game companies that have not been able to release games that are only for adults,” a GRAC official said. “The revision will contribute to vitalizing the domestic game industry.”

Game companies, which have released gambling-themed games such as poker on Google Play or One Store, but not on the Apple App Store, have already expressed their intention to develop and release them for iOS.

The companies include Neowiz that produces “Pmang Poker: Casino Royale.”

“We are preparing to release the iOS app as a new market has opened up,” a Neowiz official said.

Another game company NHN is developing a “Hangame Poker” app for Apple iOS users.

“The exact timing for the launch has yet to be decided,” an NHN official said.

NCSOFT is also considering to release an adult-only “Lineage M” on Apple App Store.

“We are reviewing details as Apple's policy has been changed,” an NCSOFT official said.

Securities companies are paying keen attention on the moves of game companies.

NH Investment & Securities said in its report that Neowiz, which has taken the largest market share in the mobile web board game market, will be the biggest beneficiary from the revision.

The revision is also expected to bring about a change in the influence of app stores.

According to data from market tracker IGAWorks, 78.6 percent of sales of mobile games in the first half of the year were generated by Google Play, while 11.9 percent were from in One Store. Apple App Store's contribution was tallied only at 9.6 percent.

This was attributed mostly to the fact that there are more Android users than iOS users, but industry officials also believed the unavailability of adult-only games at the Apple App Store exerted some influence.