Chinese games that entered the Google Play Top 20 saw a 74% increase in annual gross revenue.
The result of reducing Chinese influences and conducting large-scale marketing through Korean publishers.

IGA Works, a full-stack mobile adtech company, has released its "2017 Domestic Chinese Mobile Game Performance Report." The number of Chinese mobile games released on Google Play Korea in 2017 increased by approximately 19% year-on-year, solidifying their position as highly successful foreign games in the Korean market.

A total of 136 Chinese mobile games were released on Google Play in Korea in 2017. Based on Google Play genre classification, RPGs and strategy games accounted for 78% of the total, similar to the previous year. However, there were changes in the proportion of these two genres. RPGs increased from 46% to 65%, while strategy games decreased from 27% to 13%. The largest increase in RPGs among released games is interpreted as a learning effect from the fact that this genre has been performing the best among Chinese games released in Korea. Although RPGs are a highly competitive market, they are currently the most frequently released genre in China. This trend is expected to continue in 2018.



According to IGAWorks' mobile app intelligence platform 'Mobile Index', the number of Chinese games that entered the top 20 of the Korean Google Play sales rankings in 2017 increased from 11 in 2016 to 16 in 2017, and the total annual sales of these games increased by 74%. This shift is the result of a 292% year-over-year surge in annual revenue for mid-tier Chinese games ranked 6th to 10th among the top 20 grossing games. Furthermore, the average annual revenue for each Chinese game in the top 20 increased by 20% year-over-year.

IGAWorks identified two key characteristics and changes in Chinese games that were popular in Korea in 2017. First, Chinese games shed their Chinese aesthetic. Previously, Chinese games released in Korea generally had a distinctly Chinese feel. Examples include Chinese-inspired characters, game settings, and storylines. This overall visual quality significantly influences Korean users' game selection.
Chinese-style games have both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that users have distinct preferences for Chinese-style games, allowing them to focus on attracting and acquiring users who prefer them. On the other hand, the limited ability to expand the user base is a barrier. Even with advertising budgets, it's difficult to attract users who don't prefer Chinese-style games.

In particular, among the Chinese games that performed impressively in the Korean market last year, games that eliminated Chinese characteristics also had high sales. Among the Chinese games that entered the top 20 of Google Play sales rankings in 2017, 'Girls' Frontline' ranked first in annual sales and is a representative Chinese game that has garnered the hottest response with its Japanese animation-style graphics and high level of game completion.



"Girls' Frontline" emphasized that the various characters were not just for promotional purposes but were actually playable characters for users in the game, and this message directly influenced domestic users' expectations for the game's completeness. XD Global, which was in charge of publishing, emerged as the Chinese game company with the largest presence in the Korean mobile game market in 2017 with the success of "Girls' Frontline" and "Honkai Impact 3rd." This change is not limited to "Girls' Frontline." Of the top 20 Chinese games that entered the Google Play sales rankings in 2017, all four games, excluding "Ring," were games with less of a Chinese feel.

A second key to the success of Chinese games is collaboration with domestic experts. Compared to the previous year, the proportion of Chinese game publishers released in Korea in 2017 has steadily increased. The same trend also applies to Chinese games that made it into the top 20 of Google Play's revenue rankings in 2017, with a high proportion of Korean publishers.

This is because, in order to perform well in the maturing domestic market, in addition to the inherent competitiveness of high-quality games, a large marketing budget and appropriate marketing strategies are important. Collaboration with Korean publishers with a deep understanding of the local market is expected to continue to be a key factor in helping Chinese games enter the Korean market.

Another notable change is the increasing sophistication and popularity of Chinese games. Improved performance of Chinese smartphones has made it possible to enjoy mobile games requiring high-performance hardware, naturally leading to an improvement in the quality of Chinese games. This shift in market conditions has led to the full-scale release of high-quality Chinese games and their establishment in the Korean market.

Hong Seong-min, head of IGA Works' China business division, explained, "As Chinese games shed their Chinese aesthetic, we will see an increasing number of positive performances in Asian markets outside of China. However, in the already mature Korean market, games alone are not sufficient for competitiveness. Therefore, data-driven market analysis and localized marketing strategies are essential."

Meanwhile, IGAWorks offers a variety of services to support overseas game companies seeking to enter the Korean market with localized marketing strategies. Leveraging the mobile app intelligence platform "Mobile Index," IGAWorks can understand the Korean market's dynamics and set specific goals before launching a game. After launch, IGAWorks leverages the mobile app attribution tool "Adbricks" to analyze data by marketing channel and user behavior. Based on this data, IGAWorks can implement integrated data marketing strategies across global media platforms like Facebook and Google, as well as its own platforms, TradingWorks DSP and TradingWorks NCPI.