No matter how technology changes and the market environment shifts, users ultimately remember and return to enjoyable games. This is also a standard that has been steadfastly upheld by NEXON.
Lee Jeong-heon, CEO of NEXON Japan, noted this during his welcome speech at the NEXON Developer Conference (NDC) 2025 held on the 24th at the Pangyo Creative Economy Innovation Center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The NDC is a knowledge-sharing event in the gaming industry hosted by NEXON, which started in 2007 as a small internal presentation and was opened to external events in 2011, now marking its 18th year.
Lee diagnosed the crisis facing the gaming industry. He said, "The gaming industry is changing much faster than in the past," and added, "Amid ongoing uncertainties in the global economy, the market is being reshaped around a few large intellectual properties (IPs), and the polarization across the industry has become even more pronounced." He continued, "With the addition of new technological trends like generative artificial intelligence (AI) and Web3, the process of creating games is becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated," and further noted, "Expectations for existing live services from users are also rising continuously."
Lee presented NEXON's strategic direction. He emphasized, "During such times, we must focus on the fundamentals," stating that "NEXON has consistently developed games and live services amid changes in user expectations and technology and environment." He also pointed out that they are actively pursuing joint development with global partner companies while challenging new genres and strengthening their multi-platform strategy, thereby expanding their intellectual property (IP) centered content in various ways.
Park Yong-hyun, CEO of NEXON GAMES, diagnosed the current crisis through his keynote address, stating, "The markets for PC live games, mobile games, and package games are all stagnating or facing crises," and said, "Now is the time for a complete transformation in development methods, marketing, and organizational operations." He remarked, "Looking at the rankings of domestic PC cafes, there are hardly any games released since 2020, mostly focusing on titles over 10 years old, and more than half of the top ranks on the global Steam rankings are also games aged 5-10 years," adding, "It is becoming increasingly difficult for new mobile games to enter the market, and revenues from TikTok and YouTube have already surpassed those from games."
The survival strategy for NEXON in the global market proposed by Park is to create "big games." He explained that this is different from the so-called "large-scale productions" that NEXON has previously created. Park stated, "Big games refer to titles that can compete head-to-head with competitors and must transcend the games that have been produced so far."
Park emphasized that "the sales strategy must differ from the outset," saying, "Package games that have succeeded in the global market have been releasing trailers and building anticipation for years." He continued, "Marketing focused on the two months leading up to the launch may work in Korea, but to create and sell a new IP, it is necessary to capture customers’ hearts with an 'attractive trailer' well in advance," adding, "An 'attractive trailer' is effective not only as a marketing tool but also in sharing the team's vision and attracting talent."
He stated, "As the organization for creating large new titles grows, the expenses of maintaining that organization increase, and it becomes more difficult to share the same vision." He said that global developers divide their games into multiple chunks, developing them in various branches, or using small development teams of around 10-20 people, focused on content development rather than organizing by roles like development, art, or planning. He noted, "Whether we can adopt that approach is another issue, but what is certain is that the methods we have been using do not work well in the global blockbuster market."
Finally, Park concluded, "I still believe the door of opportunity is open for us, but I cannot guarantee that it will remain open forever," stressing that "we must quickly solve our problems, whether they are familiar or new, to pull the market toward big games."