The handheld game market is changing day by day. Recently, there are some new trends in the Korean handheld game market, which are now more inclined to absorb the glitter of existing popular games than to develop new types of games, and add systems that are friendly to players. So let’s take a look at these shining points, or what are the key points that make them stand out in the Korean handheld game market.
RPG type handheld games
NetMarble’s “All Monsters” is a game that has captured the heart of the Korean RPG market. SEVEN NIGHTS” and “SUMMONERS WAR”, which emerged after “All Monsters”, do not stop at the domestic market, but also operate in the global market. Easy operation, magnificent skills, and the collection of various heroes have become the general trend of RPG hand games in Korea.
Following the success of “All Monsters”, many RPG handheld games have sprung up. But due to the unreasonable settlement system of the game, players quickly lost interest in the game and chased away. Therefore, looking at the success and failure cases, we can summarize the key points of Korean RPGs: 1. to have attractive heroes or characters of various colors; 2. to have interesting game contents that are constantly upgraded and updated; 3. the settlement system of the game, for example, is in line with the Korean market and adapted to the local situation; 4. to have activities, such as rewarding cash equipment and physical exchange coupons.
CoC handheld games
Supercell’s “Clan Wars” has created a legend and a new category of handheld games – CoC handheld games. NEXON’s new game HERO SKY, NEOARENA’s VENATOR, and NTREEV’s SECOND EARTH are all examples of such games.
It is important to note that NEOARENA’s VENATOR is not just a CoC game, but it also incorporates the essence of the RPG mode of “All Monsters” in it, showing the infinite possibilities of this kind of game. At E3 2014, VENATOR was well received. This is after com2us’ SUMMONERS WAR, which once again showed people the hope of Korean domestic games hitting the international market.
The key points of “Tribal War”, for example, which is widely loved worldwide, are as follows: 1. attractive characters, adding the essence of RPG on the basis of pure CoC; 2. the way of charging for the game should be acceptable to Korean players, and the charges should be moderate; 3. great attention should be paid to the game balance.
Action RPG
The representative of action RPG hand game belongs to 433’s “BLADE”. This is because the action RPG category itself is a heavy game, and its category is also a relatively new classification. Netmarble’s “REVEN” and “CHRONO BLADE” are the first to blow the horn of competition in this genre, and YDOnline’s “Meet the Dragon” is already very close to the top ten of Google’s best-seller list within a week of hitting the shelves. Although the best-selling trend of “BLADE” is still strong, “MEET DRAGON” and GAMEVIL “KRITIKA” have also risen strongly.
For action RPGs, graphics and combat are the two most important factors. Compared to other types of handheld games, the more satisfied players are with the graphics and combat sense, the fewer complaints they have about paying. But as more and more handheld games of this type appear, the number of players is divided and eaten up, so to be truly successful, in addition to the above two vital factors, one must also pay twelve times more attention to marketing strategies.
Horizontal RPG
The horizontal RPG category is not a mainstream game, so the competition in this area has not been very fierce. But in the second half of the year, this situation will change dramatically.
The horizontal RPG online game is represented by NEXON’s “Adventure Island”, while the horizontal RPG handheld game is represented by NEXON’s “Pocket Adventure Island”. After that, Mgame “dragon and apis” joined in, opening a chapter of competition in the horizontal RPG handheld game market. Horizontal RPG games are filled with a variety of cute characters and monsters, and compared with other categories of games, their audience is wide and all ages can enjoy the fun of the game. The key point for the success of these games is that the characters should give people a friendly and cute feeling, and the operation should be smooth and comfortable.
According to Korean game experts, “The first half of this year’s handheld game market is dominated by 433, Gamevil, and Com2us, and the second half of the year will be dominated by NEXON, NEOARENA, and YDOnline. In terms of game genres, RPG handheld games are still the mainstream, and MMORPG handheld games with high quality graphics and powerful systems will also be officially on the handheld market stage.”
