A staffer for The Callisto Protocol has talked up why they believe in Korea’s potential as the future of the video game industry.
To be clear, this statement does not come from nowhere. The Callisto Protocol is being developed by Striking Distance Studios, a game studio based in the West, but their publisher, and the company that put Striking Distance Studios together, is Korean game giant Krafton. Krafton is the big company in Korean video game development, based solely on their most successful game, PUBG. With Striking Distance Studios and The Callisto Protocol, Krafton is looking to expand to console gaming. Striking Distance Studios’ co-founder Glen Schofield had already spoken about their relationship to Krafton, so if you are curious, you can read the full story here.
With all that in mind, here is what Striking Distance Studios’ chief development officer Steve Papoutsis had to say about Korea and its potential in the global video game industry:
“From my perspective, I think Korea is set up to have success in the gaming market because there are so many passionate individuals here that care about gaming, so I think it’s a very great country for opportunity for video games right now.”
It certainly seems like Korean game companies are interested in re-entering the global video game market again. Earlier this year, Krafton revealed they were also working on a new fantasy themed video game. NCSoft, who initially found global success with Guild Wars 2, announced their own return to gaming outside Japan with LLL, an open world shooter MMO.
Korea does have a rich history of video games and video game development. In particular, there is a lot of history in PC game development, from both fan projects and bigger companies. Korea is of course also the country where the StarCraft competitive community took root, and are historically a big part of the global fighting game community. Forgotten here in the West, but perhaps more important to the industry within the country, was their history in making java games on smartphones before the iPhone.
Korea’s potential as a huge video game hub is similar to China’s. There should be no doubt that the talent is there in either company, but the business side hasn’t always aligned to the advantage of the game studios. In contrast, Japan, and many places in Europe, even smaller countries and war torn countries, came up as lucrative places for game developers big and small. This is partly thanks to real state support, and also more favorable business and working conditions.
So the success of companies like Krafton and NCSoft outside Korea may not be entirely under their control. But their attempts to try again will certainly give us some interesting experiences in the future.
Source: Korea Herald
