Korean game, webtoon providers cruise in Japan

A poster for Netmarble Games’ mobile role-playing game “Lineage 2: Revolution” for the Japanese market / Courtesy of Netmarble Games

By Yoon Sung-won

Digital entertainment content providers including Netmarble Games, Nexon, LINE, NHN Entertainment and Kakao are flourishing in the Japanese market where conventional Korean firms have struggled.

As software content and service providers, they have pushed a more agile strategy to meet the specific demands of Japanese consumers so that they can avoid less-successful past experiences of manufacturers such as Samsung and Hyundai, according to industry sources, Thursday.

Netmarble Games said this week that its mobile role-playing game “Lineage 2: Revolution” has been ranked as the third top grossing mobile games both at Google Play and Apple Appstore in Japan.

Launched Aug. 23, “Revolution” has also been No. 1 in the most popular mobile games at both app markets, with more than 2 million downloads in the two days after its release. On the day of release, it became the top grossing game at Apple Appstore in the country ― the first time for a Korea-made mobile game ― the company said.

To handle unexpectedly favorable user responses, the company increased the number of game servers to 60 from 40.

“Revolution is making a new history for Korean mobile games in overseas markets. It was also ranked the top grossing mobile game in the first 18 hours after its release in Japan,” Netmarble Games’ game director Cho Shin-hwa said.

Netmarble Games launched “Revolution” in Korea in December last year. At that time, the game marked record-breaking sales of 206 billion won in the first 30 days since its release.

Japan has been considered one the largest mobile game markets alongside China and the United States with many game users who are willing to pay for quality game content. However, many foreign games have been unsuccessful due to the unique preferences of Japanese gamers who favor their country’s own cartoon intellectual properties.

Cho said, “We believe that high-quality game content and thorough service localization have played a key role not just in Korea but also in Japan.”

The company stressed it has worked with popular Japanese voice actors and actresses to meet Japanese gamers’ preference of quality story-telling.

In June 2016, Netmarble’s mobile game “Seven Knights” ranked among the top 3 grossing games at the Apple Appstore in Japan. It was the highest ranking for a non-Japanese mobile game at the time.

Also for “Seven Knights,” the company pushed for thorough localization of the game service by collaborating with Japan’s popular cartoon and entertainment content providers.

Earlier this year, Nexon successfully released its mobile game “Heroes of Incredible Tales” (HIT) in Japan. Launched Dec. 8 last year through both Google Play and the Apple Appstore in Japan, “HIT” drew more than 1 million downloads in 30 days.

As a game company headquartered in Japan, Nexon accumulated market experiences even before the era of mobile games. It has entirely redesigned the game’s visual illustrations to meet the taste of Japanese gamers.

“We have prepared a long time for the successful launch in Japan. We have developed new content that will be loved by Japanese users,” Nexon’s mobile game business unit head Noh Jung-hwan said.

NHN comico CEO Chang Hyun-soo introduces Korean online cartoon and novel artists to the company’s business in Japan during a meeting at the company’s office in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, June 27. / Courtesy of NHN Entertainment

Webtoons in Japan

Launched in 2013, LINE Manga is a mobile cartoon platform provided by Naver’s subsidiary LINE. Tapping into the leading presence of the LINE mobile messenger app in the country, LINE Manga has been ranked at the top among cartoon apps at Japan’s Apple Appstore.

NHN Entertainment’s subsidiary NHN comico has a hit with a mobile cartoon service, dubbed “Comico,” drawing more than 15 million downloads since it was launched in Japan in 2013.

“We are among the few businesses in Japan that are making meaningful sales by providing webtoons only,” NHN comico CEO Chang Hyun-soo said. “We have pushed to distribute webtoons as a popular cartoon platform in Japan whose cartoon industry has a long, prestigious history.”

Kakao Japan’s webtoon service Piccoma is also performing well. As of July, the app had 800,000 daily average users, rapidly growing from 520,000 in May.

The company adopted a profit model that allows users to read each episode of a webtoon series after waiting for a certain time. If they don’t want to wait, they can pay for the content.

“Such a profit model has already been proven in Korea through Kakao’s paid digital content platform Kakao Page,” a Kakao official said. “The model turned out to work in Japan, too.”