Their retreat has a floor plan. Foreign publishers are filling the gaps at G-Star, the country's flagship game show in Busan this November, while Korean heavyweights chase audiences abroad.
A floor plan released Tuesday for the Nov. 19–22 show in Busan lists Krafton and mid-sized Webzen as the only major Korean publishers in the main consumer hall. Household names Nexon, NC, Netmarble, Kakao Games and Smilegate are absent.
“Overseas sales are taking up a bigger share at Korean game companies,” said Kim Jung-tae, a professor of game studies at Dongyang University.
“Domestic users are scattering to short-form video and streaming, and MMORPG fatigue has built up, so the home market has its limits.”
South Korea’s game industry revenue grew just 3.9 percent to 23.85 trillion won ($17.5 billion) in 2024, according to the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA). The game pales against the industry’s boom years, including a 21.3 percent surge in 2020.
Overseas sales accounted for nearly half the total, at $8.5 billion.
At home, the gaming audience is shrinking. Last year, 50.2 percent of South Koreans aged 10 to 69 played games, down from 74.4 percent in 2022, according to a KOCCA survey.
Publishers are increasingly looking abroad for players, tailoring their offerings to different markets.
Nexon, NC, Netmarble and Smilegate drew queues of more than two hours at the Tokyo Game Show in September, local media reported. Some 127 Korean companies exhibited there, about 2.5 times last year's count and second only to host Japan.
Many of their Tokyo headliners, including Nexon's "Paraidolia" and NC's "Astrae Oratio," were anime-style character-collection games aimed at Japan’s fans of the genre.
The oversea pivot has left a thinner lineup for Busan.
"Nexon decided not to take part in G-Star this year so it can focus on polishing the new titles it is preparing and strengthening its fundamentals," a Nexon spokesperson told AJP.
Krafton, returning for a 10th straight year, will again operate one of the main hall’s largest booths.
"G-Star has been where we talk directly with Korean players and introduce our major titles and new games," a Krafton spokesperson said.
"Big game companies simply don’t have many new titles to unveil at G-Star," Cho Young-ki, chairman of the organizing committee, told reporters on Aug. 13. Many Korean firms now earn more overseas than at home, he said.
The shift extends to the show’s main sponsorship, which went to Crack, an AI character-chat and storytelling app run by Wrtn Technologies. It is the first business outside the games industry to take the role since G-Star began in 2005.
"It's hard to agree that only game companies should sponsor a game show," said Jung Seung-woo, a director at the committee, pointing to Rolex at Wimbledon and Hyundai Motor at the World Cup.
Chinese publishers are filling much of the exhibition gap. HoYoverse, the maker of "Genshin Impact," has taken one of the main hall's six largest spaces, while NetEase will spread across two halls.
Neither operated a consumer booth at the Tokyo Game Show, where the number of mainland Chinese exhibitors fell to 72 from 112 a year earlier, according to Niko Partners. A record 60 Chinese companies attended Gamescom.
"Chinese game companies have the political issue between China and Japan, which is probably why many of them skipped TGS this time," Kim said. "As an alternative, they turned to Korea, whose show opens a month later."
Kim described the shift as a windfall for Busan. K-culture's growing appeal has also made companies that once overlooked Korea more eager to reach its players, he said.
The changing presence of CD Projekt Red offers one illustration.
This year, it will have its own space inside the show to premiere a Korean-voiced playthrough of "Songs of the Past," the new "Witcher 3" expansion. Sega will bring "Total War: Warhammer 40,000," which beat "Crimson Desert" for best PC game at Gamescom, for its Korean debut.
“This should be seen as a good thing,” Kim said. “Instead of always ending as a home-turf affair, giving global companies a chance and welcoming foreign guests here is the best model for an international game show.”
AJP Takeaways
- A thinner home lineup: Krafton and Webzen are the only major Korean publishers listed in G-Star's main consumer hall for the Nov. 19–22 show.
- Korean publishers look abroad: Some 127 Korean companies exhibited at September's Tokyo Game Show, about 2.5 times the previous year's count.
- Foreign publishers fill the gap: HoYoverse and NetEase are taking large spaces in Busan as G-Star gains a broader international lineup.
- Domestic participation falls: Half of South Koreans aged 10 to 69 played games in 2025, down from nearly three-quarters in 2022, according to KOCCA.
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