Last year, the export value of games developed by Chinese corporations reached 27 trillion won, marking an increase of more than 13% compared to the previous year. Chinese gaming companies are showcasing their presence in the South Korean mobile game market and are expanding their influence. This year, they are also expected to focus on expanding their user base with 'hyper-casual' games.
'Hyper-casual' refers to a genre of games that allows players to engage in intuitive gameplay, such as solving puzzles with simple controls or jumping with a single touch. China-based Firstfun's 'Last War: Survival', which gained global popularity, is also a game that incorporates hyper-casual elements.
According to the '2024 China Game Export Research Report' released by the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association at the end of last year, overseas sales of Chinese games reached $18.557 billion (26.7 trillion won), an increase of 13.39% compared to the previous year. The main customers of Chinese games are users in the United States, Japan, and South Korea, with respective market shares of 31.06%, 17.32%, and 8.89%.
Chinese gaming companies are expected to intensify their overseas market penetration by focusing on highly addictive and easy-to-operate hyper-casual games. According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, among mobile game users in South Korea, 10.4% responded that they enjoy the hyper-casual genre, a significant increase from 2.5% in 2023.
In the domestic mobile game market, the influence of Chinese games is also growing. According to Mobile Index, as of December of last year, the monthly active user (MAU) rankings had 'Brawl Stars', owned by Finland's Supercell under Chinese Tencent, in first place and 'Teamfight Tactics' by Riot Games in third. In terms of revenue, Chinese games such as 'Last War: Survival' (2nd), 'WOS: Whiteout Survival' (3rd), 'Girls' Frontline 2: Exile' (5th), and 'Capybara GO!' (8th) made it into the rankings.
As the offensive from Chinese gaming companies continues, attention is turning to the performance of domestic mobile games to be released in the first half of this year. In January, Com2uS launched the idle role-playing game (RPG) 'God & Demon', Wemade will release the character-collection RPG 'Lost Sword', and Lionheart is set to release the rogue-like hack and slash genre 'Valhalla Survival'.
A representative from the gaming industry noted, 'Although the recently launched domestic mobile games and Chinese casual games are of different genres, easy-to-operate games tend to be sought after more by users during travel or leisure, due to their good accessibility.'
The legal firm HWANG Game Center explained, 'It is noteworthy for the South Korean gaming industry that, from China's perspective, the emergence of mid to low-level games as a new trend should be watched.' They added, 'Although the aim is to reduce expense and maximize revenue, it is important to note that the sheer volume of games being released daily distributes users' playtime.'