{"id":38879,"date":"2024-10-25T10:53:06","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T01:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=38879"},"modified":"2024-10-25T10:55:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T01:55:00","slug":"japan-console-focused-gaming-history-makes-it-a-tricky-market-for-competitive-and-grindy-games-says-korean-mmo-dev","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-console-focused-gaming-history-makes-it-a-tricky-market-for-competitive-and-grindy-games-says-korean-mmo-dev\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan’s console-focused gaming history makes it a tricky market for competitive and grindy games, says Korean MMO dev\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a recent interview with 4Gamer<\/a>, Young-Hoon Baek gave insight into the cultural differences he has perceived in the way that Japanese and Korean players tend to enjoy games, and how this impacts the success of MMORPGs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Young-Hoon Baek is a director of Smilegate\u2019s Megaport Division, Smilegate Japan as well as the social game platform Stove<\/a>. Smilegate is a South Korean game company best known for the FPS Crossfire, the RPG Epic Seven and the MMORPG LOST ARK.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back on his experience of the industry in both countries, Baek reflects that the gap between the South Korean and Japanese game markets has narrowed considerably since 2006. \u201cAt the time, the Korean market was mainly online PC games, whereas the Japanese market was console games and browser-based games.\u201d He recalls, giving the opinion that the rise of smartphone games in recent years and the increasing ease with which customers can play global games, have helped narrow the gap between the markets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Differences in Japan and Korea’s gaming cultures<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Shift
Goddess of Victory: NIKKE is a South Korean TPS RPG for mobile and PC that is highly popular in Japan<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although gamers in South Korea and Japan may be more likely to play on the same platforms now, Baek has observed some cultural differences in how players from the two countries enjoy games. \u201cIn general, Korean players tend to place importance on results. On the other hand, among Japanese players there are many who value the process.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baek muses that this difference could be influenced by the background of the two countries\u2019 gaming cultures. South Korea started out with online PC games built around competitive play and has a huge esports scene, explaining why gameplay results became a focal point. Japan\u2019s more console-focused background, on the other hand, may have contributed to the process of playing and exploring a game gaining greater importance.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lost
Smilegate\u2019s free-to-play MMORPG Lost Ark was shut down in Japan<\/a> on March 20, 2024. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although these are generalizations and both countries make a variety of games, these cultural differences likely impact what kind of MMORPGs are successful. Baek mentions that Korean MMORPGs tend to have lots of daily quests and encourage players to purchase in-game items. \u201cYou have to spend a lot of time on them and invest a lot of money,\u201d adding that \u201cit\u2019s more focused on the results than the process.\u201d Games with a strong community basis, like Ragnarok Online, have guild vs. guild aspects to their communities where players can team up and enjoy winning (i.e. the results) together.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although there are plenty of Japanese players out there who do enjoy PvP and \u201cplay-to-win” style games, Baek emphasizes the importance of offering a sense of relaxation in MMORPGs marketed in Japan. \u201cIn Japan, rather than having the players compete against each other, it’s important to manage the game so that players can enjoy a place, such as letting them gather together for a festival or to take group photos.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Final
Final Fantasy XIV lets players take group photos together (image credit: Hironobu Sakaguchi’s X accoun<\/a>t)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is very much the case in the highly successful Japanese MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, which gives players plenty of opportunities to chill out in beautiful locations and snap photos (Yoshi-P even once commented that he made the game too stress-free<\/a>). Although there are various reasons behind it, FFXIV\u2019s PvP competitive mode is a part of the game that many Japanese players have been less keen on<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mentioning Blue Protocol, Bandai Namco\u2019s ill-fated MMORPG<\/a> that will end service in Japan without even launching overseas, Baek commented that \u201cAside from Final Fantasy XIV, Japanese MMORPG services themselves seem to be in a rather tough situation.\u201d Later in the interview, he adds that, \u201cI don\u2019t think it is easy for competitive MMORPGs to succeed in Japan. However, I think there is still potential for MMORPGs that have good storytelling and some kind of cooperative element.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Smilegate\u2019s Young-Hoon Baek gives insight into gaming culture differences between South Korea and Japan, and how this impacts MMORPG success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":38883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-38879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-global-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nJapan's console-focused gaming history makes it a tricky market for competitive and grindy games, says Korean MMO dev\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Smilegate\u2019s Young-Hoon Baek gives insight into gaming culture differences between South Korea and Japan, and how this impacts MMORPG success.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-console-focused-gaming-history-makes-it-a-tricky-market-for-competitive-and-grindy-games-says-korean-mmo-dev\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japan's console-focused gaming history makes it a tricky market for competitive and grindy games, says Korean MMO dev\u00a0 - 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