Korean Online Games to Exceed $1.7 Billion by 2011

DUBLIN, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/0e1b1c/online_games_marke) has announced the addition of the "Online Games Market in Korea" report to their offering.

Approximately 67% of Korean users in their 20s purchase paid digital content San Francisco, CA, September 2, 2008, - We forecast the online games market in South Korea will exceed $1.7 billion by 2011, driven by new releases and an ingrained gaming culture. These findings are contained in a new “Games Market in Korea” study. One of the fastest growing segments is casual games, that are free-to-play, easy-to-learn and can be played in “micro-slices” of time of ten minutes or less.

Key findings:

• South Korea has a sophisticated information technology (IT) infrastructure with 80% of households connected to the Internet.
• Korea has one of the highest adoption rates of purchasing virtual items and micro-transactions. Approximately 67% of those in the 20-30 age cohort purchased online paid content. Of those who have purchased digital content, 91% purchased music while 39% purchased community and avatar items.
• A common strategy in Korea is the operation of large game portals that provide a wide selection of games, including massively-multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), casual, and web board games all within one convenient site. Top game portals such as CJ Internet’s Netmarble, NHN’s Hangame, and Neowiz’s Pmang can attract 500,000 to 1 million unique visitors a day. More than 11 million Korean adults visit game portals every month, according to this reports estimates.
• While South Korea has a robust games market, critical challenges include intense domestic competition; prevalence of “me-too” or derivative titles; challenges in expanding overseas to the US and China; and rising development costs. The “Games Market in Korea” report provides an in-depth analysis of the Korean online games market and contains an executive summary; 2007 to 2011 forecasts for the online games platforms; inhibitors and drivers to growth; deep marketplace analysis; discussion of key market players, and strategic conclusions.

Key Topics Covered:
METHODOLOGY
INTERNET USAGE
- Usage by Occupation
- Usage Patterns
- Reasons for using Internet
- Internet Shopping
- Instant Messenger
- Blogging
HARDWARE PENETRATION
- Households with Information Devices
- Mobile Phone Usage Rate
INTERNET ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
- Paid Content Usage
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
MARKET FORECASTS
DRIVERS TO GROWTH
INHIBITORS TO GROWTH
UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF ONLINE GAMES
TOP ONLINE GAMES
GAME PORTALS
KOREAN GAME OPERATORS
SOUTH KOREA: INTERNET PIRACY
COPYRIGHT ACT OF KOREA
ONLINE PIRACY
ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE

Companies Mentioned:

• CJ Internet
• Hanbitsoft
• Neowiz

• Nexon

• Nexon America

• NCsoft

• NHN

• Webzen

• Gravity

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/0e1b1c/online_games_marke