Domestic game companies are developing new titles utilizing popular Japanese animation intellectual property (IP). The strategy is to shorten development time and expand the user base by leveraging the solid fan base of Japanese animation based on characters and worldviews.
According to the gaming industry on the 22nd, Netmarble unveiled a new trailer for the open-world role-playing game (RPG) 'The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin' at the global game shows 'Summer Game Fest' and 'Future Game Show' on the 6th and 7th, respectively. The newly released video features main characters including the protagonist Tristan, Meliodas, Ban, King, and Merlin. It also includes battle scenes with demons and golems, as well as the vast open-world environment. By emphasizing the worldview and characters, it suggests a gameplay direction focused on combat and exploration. The game is scheduled to be released in the second half of the year, with pre-registration starting on the 4th.
'The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin' is a game based on the popular animation 'The Seven Deadly Sins', which has sold over 55 million copies worldwide. This game features the son of the original protagonists 'Meliodas' and 'Elizabeth', Tristan, and is being developed as an original multiverse story that can only be seen in the game. Notably, this game will be simultaneously released on console, PC, and mobile platforms, which is unusual for Netmarble.
Previously, Netmarble presented 'The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross' from 2019 to 2020. This game ranked first in revenue in over 30 countries, including Korea, Japan, France, and Germany, and surpassed 70 million downloads. The company’s flagship game, 'Solo Leveling: Arise (hereafter referred to as Solo Leveling)', is based on a domestic webtoon and has attracted over 60 million users to date. Netmarble plans to further expand its global user base through the release of the PC and console versions in the second half of this year.
NHN is developing a puzzle game based on the Japanese animation 'My Favorite Idol' IP. 'My Favorite Idol' is a hybrid genre that combines the struggles of members striving to become the best girl group with a detective story to find a murderer, and it is gaining popularity worldwide. This is the first game utilizing the 'My Favorite Idol' IP in Korea, and NHN will handle game development and global publishing (distribution) excluding Japan. In March, it opened an official teaser website and revealed the game's key images, with more detailed information set to be released sequentially.
Com2uS is also developing a role-playing game (RPG) based on the Japanese animation 'Tao Yuan An Gui'. In March, at an anime festival held in Tokyo, Japan, Com2uS announced the game's development news and presented a 40-second trailer and teaser images featuring key scenes from the game. 'Tao Yuan An Gui' is a growth story centered around revenge, with a total of 3 million copies published, and is set to be aired as a TV animation in the second half of this year. Com2uS is collaborating with Japan's G Holdings to reproduce the original work through various technologies, including 3D modeling art. This game is expected to be released on PC and mobile platforms.
Com2uS has also been proactive in collaborating with Japanese animations in the past. Through its representative work 'Summoners War: Sky Arena', it has collaborated with various animation IPs. In August of last year, it recorded a surge in revenue through collaboration with 'Jujutsu Kaisen', and in January of this year, it collaborated with 'Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba'.
The reason why the domestic gaming industry is launching games in collaboration with popular Japanese animations is that the popularity of Japanese animation is rising. The overseas revenue proportion of the Japanese animation industry, which was only 17% in 2012, has grown to over 50% in 2023. Additionally, the revenue from the animation industry's over-the-top (OTT) market has increased from 34 billion yen (32.76 billion won) in 2013 to 165 billion yen (1.6 trillion won) in 2022, a 4.85-fold increase in nine years.
A gaming industry official noted, "In the case of animation, the character settings and worldviews are well-established, making it good content to adapt into games," adding, "With a solid original fandom, the news of the adaptation spreads quickly and the influx of new users post-launch is assured, providing many benefits."