In the Korean mobile game market, it is still known as 3N (NEXON, NCSOFT, Netmarble) that has dominated for many years.
But the strength of another publisher, KaKao Games, is clearly not to be underestimated, emerging strongly.
Its product ODIN: Valhalla Rising topped the list of highest-selling games, released last year. KaKao Games can compete with all three “big” 3N game industry in Korea? Experts say they are even capable of going above and beyond. Why did the publisher of this game jump up so quickly?
The media often mentions Lee Hae-jin, the founder of Naver, and Kim Bum-soo, the founder of Hangame, which established the largest Internet listed company in Korea. It is quite interesting that after Jin Fanxiu stepped down, in 2010, created a strong opponent that made Naver feel threatened, that was KaKao, the parent company of KaKao Games.
Many Kakao games reach the top.
Kakao is almost the leader in the Korean Internet industry. Its market value has skyrocketed, far ahead of Naver, ranking behind Samsung Group, SK Group, LG Group and Hyundai Motor Group, becoming the 5th largest company in Korea.
Social networks, games, online comics, banking, financial payments, and online ride-hailing businesses have all achieved industry-leading goals. Kakao Talk, a social product, has more than 44 million users and a market share as high as 96%. According to Nielsen, Koreans spend an average of 33 minutes a day on this social software.
Korea’s Kakao Pay has more than 36.6 million users, was independently listed in Korea last year, with a large market value. Affiliated company Kakao Bank went public in the same year and closed up 78.97% on the first day, becoming the Korean bank with the highest market value and the largest IPO in the country since kimchi. there.
KaKao Games is responsible for the thriving gaming business in 2020. The IPO in September set a new record for Korea’s IPO registration rate. According to Ryan Capital, Kakao Games issued large value shares to retail investors, but attracted 1,500 times more registrations, 1,147 times more than Nongfu Spring, which was listed in Hong Kong during the same period.
After the stock market started trading, Kakao Games was still sought after by the market and the stock price increased rapidly by 30% to hit the daily limit of the Korean stock market.
In the second quarter of this year, revenue grew 162% year-on-year and a quarter close to 2019’s total. Operating profit far outstrips the full year’s figure, being the highest operating profit since its inception. established, up 93% over the previous month and up 900% over the same period last year.
Having huge traffic, KaKao mobile game platform launched in 2012 uses SNS relationship network to stimulate player growth, increase player retention through social methods and indirectly increase mutual competitiveness through the list, encouraging gamers to be active.
Mobile games succeeded one after another, and products with the For Kakao logo began to dominate the Korean iOS and Android markets. So far, Kakao is a big force in Korea that 3N also has to be wary of.
