Noncompetitive, low-stress games take center stage for Korean gamers
Shifting away from the battle-heavy titles, games focused on personal growth, emotional healing and everyday life simulation are emerging as the latest trend among gamers in South Korea.
At the forefront of this trend is Nexon's Mabinogi Mobile, which launched March 27.
The game is rapidly gaining traction as a standout title in the Korean gaming scene, attracting nearly 400,000 daily active users during its launch week. The number makes the game the most-played mobile massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in Korea in a day, according to the Mobile Index data.
The game also ranked 4th in overall revenue and 5th in user count across both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, marking the first time in nine months that a newly launched Korean mobile game has broken into the top five for both metrics since Cookie Run: Tower of Adventures debuted last July.
Mabinogi Mobile is characterized by its focus on a more relaxed, everyday experience rather than competitive, large-scale Player versus Player content such as guild wars.
Despite being a MMORPG, which traditionally embraces heavy warfare content among players, the game places more emphasis on routine activities such as fishing, music performance and insect collection, offering a laid-back alternative to other combat-heavy titles.
Another game leading the trend is inZOI, a life simulation game developed by Krafton which allows users to develop a virtual self and freely manage its life. Launched late March via early access on Steam, inZOI became the fastest-Korean game ever to sell one million units, with record reached within just seven days.
The record outpaces the success of Nexon's indie hit Dave the Diver, which reached the same milestone in 10 days in 2022. By comparison, other notable Korean games such as Lies of P by Neowiz and Stellar Blade took significantly longer to reach the one million mark, with Lies of P taking a month and Stellar Blade taking two.
As the demand for noncompetitive, low-stress gaming experiences continues to rise, more titles are set to join the trend.
Among the anticipated upcoming releases is My Little Puppy, a pet-care simulation game from Krafton's Dreammotion. Players take on the role of a dog living in a heavenly paradise, exploring the afterlife to reunite with their owner.
Another eagerly awaited title is Cats & Soup: Magic Recipe, a sequel to Neowiz's hit idle simulation game Cats & Soup -- which allows users to view cats making various foods such soup and juice. Both games are expected to debut later this year.
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