Analyst: South Korea Online Game Market Could Reach 2 Billion

The online video game market in South Korea could increase in value to more than 2 billion dollars during the course of 2011, mainly because the game companies working in the country will aim to expand their business in other territories.

The figure comes from a new study put together by Pearl Research of San Jose and summarized by Gamasutra.

There are three big companies that have increased their revenue by more than 50 percent during 2009 and are poised to grow just as aggressively this year.

Nexon is the best known to Western gamers for maintaining online titles like Mapple Story and Dungeon Fighter Online. The company got 703.6 billion Won, the equivalent of 585 million dollars, from markets other than the Korean one.

NHN, which publishes Soul of the Ultimate Nation, also saw an increase in overseas revenue and created a United States presence, while Neowiz, creator of CrossFire, saw more growth in online games outside of Korea than in all other business segments.

The study says that South Korean video game creators are introducing a new model for online games, where a monthly subscription fee is levied from the player but he also has the option of using micro transactions for more in game content.

Pearl Research mentions that, “It remains to be seen if this hybrid model will be accepted by consumers and spread to other countries.”

The expansion is threatened by the fact that Western developers are also aiming to create and market games that are suited to the sensibilities of the Korean player.

Electronic Arts managed to have a hit in FIFA Online 2 which shot up to the top of the online rankings in the popular Internet cafes when the World Cup was on.

World of Warcraft is also doing well in the region and Blizzard must be also hoping that Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty manages to reach the same level of national sport that the first real time strategy in the series enjoys.