South Korean developers behind successful games like Stellar Blade and Lies of P are reporting a surge of interest in single-player games both at home and abroad. Korean studios have long been associated with mobile, free-to-play, and online games, but are now leaning towards single-player console and PC experiences.
Stellar Blade and Lies of P devs see growth in single-player market
As reported by Game Developer, shuttered publication Game Informer interviewed a group of Korean devs in its final issue, who reported a movement away from F2P and mobile games at home. However, there’s some difference of opinion between the developers over the console market’s potential for further growth in the region.
Shift Up revealed that only 5% of Stellar Blade’s PS5 sales came from the Korean market, and reckons that single-player games will do better if released on both consoles and PC. CEO Kim Hyung-tae thinks that the single-player market has a better shot at growth on PC, which is why he’s considering releasing Stellar Blade on the platform.
Round8 Studio held a more stringent view, with CEO Jason Park stating that only a “fixed number of people” in Korea play single-player games on both consoles and PC. He added that Lies of P was made for a global audience, which is where it found success. But Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss disagreed, and pointed out that the console market has grown in Korea.
What the group unanimously agrees on, however, is making more single-player games and opening themselves up to new audiences beyond their home turf. Apparently, budding developers in Korea feel the same, and they aren’t as keen on mobile games as the country once was.
