The South Korean government has approved a five-year gaming industry development plan.

The South Korean government prepared and approved “Comprehensive gaming industry development plan for 2024-2028” During its preparation, more than 20 meetings and discussions were held with industry representatives. As a result, three indicators were identified that need to be increased by 2028 compared to 2022:

• Increase in total sales of Korean games from 22.2 trillion won to 30 trillion won.
• Increased overseas sales of Korean games from US$8.98 billion to US$12 billion.
• Increase in specialists involved in game development from 84,000 to 95,000.

To achieve these indicators, 12 points were prepared, which cover a variety of aspects and areas: legal, technical and organizational. The government itself takes on a lot of the work, but all plans and decisions are discussed with representatives of the gaming industry.

Since the original material is very extensive, we will only briefly comment on each point:

1. Focus on the console gaming ecosystem. Historically, South Korea prefers to create computer and mobile games, and the share of console projects is negligible. However, the console market ranks second in the world, and it is unacceptable to miss this opportunity to earn money. It is planned that partnerships will be organized with Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo to develop and promote promising games. Training seminars and forums will also be organized for the exchange of experience, as well as mentoring between experienced developers and newcomers in this field.
2. Support creative indie developers. In some cases, small studios can create worldwide hits on modest budgets. The government offers to help such teams both financially and organizationally. Especially when it comes to young professionals who are creating their first projects.
3. Prepare export support strategies for each major market. At the government level, work is underway to promote Korean games in different countries and regions: China, the Middle East (especially Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), Europe and North America.
4. Creating innovative growth engines for the gaming industry. Artificial intelligence, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are considered innovations. And we are talking not only about games, but also about technology in general. In addition, the government will expand investment in projects with unique intellectual property (IP) and help with their publication on the global market.
5. Give gaming companies more freedom to self-regulate. To access online games, South Korean residents must verify their age and personal information, but this requirement is planned to be relaxed. It will become a recommendation, and companies will be able to provide access to all players who have not been verified. However, in this case, players will receive so-called “children’s access” with limited functionality.
6. Improve the game classification system. All games in South Korea are rated by a special commission whose activities will be improved. Perhaps some of this will fall on the shoulders of local gaming companies.
7. Improve business conditions for gaming arcade machines. Slot machines with various arcade games are still popular in the country. It is planned to give more freedom to the owners of this business.
8. Introduce fair play rules. Players’ rights should not be infringed, and gaming companies must be held accountable for their mistakes. For example, correctly and clearly disclose all the chances of receiving items (this applies to both paid and in-game items). In addition, players will be able to receive compensation for developer errors and downtime of game services.
9. Support and development of eSports. In addition to holding major professional tournaments, it is planned to create regional e-sports leagues. And in addition to student teams, there will be school teams. Plus there will be information support for eSports, including TV programs, films and shows.
10. Support in training and employment of young specialists. In addition to the exchange of experience between Korean companies, partnerships with foreign gaming companies and educational institutions are being discussed. It is planned to participate in international events dedicated to game development, as well as gaming exhibitions.
11. Creating a healthy and fair gaming culture. We are talking about the transparent operation of games and services, as well as compliance with all agreements between players and companies.
    
12. Laying the foundation to become a global leader in the gaming industry. The government hopes that in five years, projects created in South Korea will be associated with players around the world as high-quality projects in different genres and on different platforms.

In conclusion, I would like to speak on this plan. It looks very ambitious, but is difficult to implement even within South Korea. Large gaming companies have already begun to change, and we have seen the first results of such changes. The most striking example is Lies Of P, which created a sensation in the country and showed good results all over the world. However, Neowiz has put a huge amount of effort and time into creating such a project, and it is not a fact that all companies will be able to repeat this success. A number of projects are currently being prepared for consoles, with the goal of making good money on the global market. But many of them are experiencing problems or are in production hell. Some projects lose their original ideas and are delayed, some are completely remade, but there are also those that stubbornly move towards release, persistently and methodically solving all the problems that arise along the way. And it’s not a fact that all projects will succeed and not bury the studios or companies that are involved in them.