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| U.S.-based Riot Games' "League of Legends" has reclaimed the top spot of Korean internet cafes, beating "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" developed by Korean game developer PUBG. |
By Jun Ji-hye
"PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" developed by Korean game developer PUBG has lost the No.1 spot at PC cafes here to "League of Legends" developed by the U.S.-based game company Riot Games.
The Korean game, which was a great hit on the global market after its release in March last year, yielded the top position for the first time since it took first place beating the then No.1 game, "League of Legends," on Nov. 16.
Market observers say "Battlegrounds" seems to be moving downward amid growing complaints by users over the instability of servers and recent updates which fell below expectations.
According to game data provider Gametrics, "League of Legends" internet cafe share was 27.12 percent last week, 18.58 percent up from the week before.
"Battlegrounds," a survivor shooter game reminiscent of the Japanese film "Battle Royale," took a 26.48 percent share at PC cafes, up by only 1.91 percent from the previous week.
The decline in popularity of "Battlegrounds" was prominent compared to growth trends of other games in the upper ranks at a time when more students are visiting PC rooms with the beginning of their summer vacation.
"Overwatch" which took third place with an 8.81 percent share saw a move up of 53.42 percent from the week before, while "MapleStory" with a 7.81 percent share saw a 44.66 percent improvement from the previous week.
Because Korean gamers usually play computer games in PC rooms nationwide, internet cafe share is widely used as an indicator of the games' popularity.
"Battlegrounds" has recently provoked complaints of users due to unstable servers.
On July 5, PUBG, a subsidiary of Bluehole, carried out server checking to resolve instability but the problem repeated only two days later.
Bluehole holds a 100 percent stake in PUBG.
PUBG has also become the subject of criticism after releasing a game item with an image of the Rising Sun Flag of the Japanese imperial military on it in the mobile version of the firm's mega-hit computer game.
On July 14, the firm released a pilot helmet whose design resembled the Rising Sun Flag, raising the eyebrows of many Korean gamers who regard the flag as the symbol of Japan's imperialism and invasion of foreign countries, including Korea, during World War II.
Amid mounting controversy, PUBG checked the item with Tencent's Lightspeed & Quantum Studios that co-developed the mobile version of the game, and eventually removed the item from the in-game shop hours after its release.
"We apologize for causing concerns over a pilot mask item," the firm said in a written apology uploaded on its official online fan cafe, saying it is collecting the items that were already sold and compensating users.
Some observers say falling popularity of "Battlegrounds" in PC rooms may be the results of diversification of game publishing platforms.
Since "Battlegrounds," was released in March last year on Steam, the world's largest online game store platform, the game company has expanded the game platforms to mobile phones and console devices.
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