Mobile Game Market Trends: South Korea

Key insights

6 slides

Market Landscape

RPGs drive a significant majority of mobile game revenue in South Korea.

Approximately 60% of mobile game revenue in South Korea comes from RPGs. This makes South Korea the leading country among major nations for RPG contribution to mobile revenue.

60%

Share of mobile game revenue from RPGs in South Korea.

Global RPG revenue share: 25.1%

Subgenre Evolution

MMORPGs still lead the South Korean mobile RPG market, but their share is declining.

MMORPGs remain the primary revenue driver within the South Korean mobile RPG sector. However, their market share has experienced a gradual decline since 2019.

Market Shift. MMORPGs' share of the South Korean mobile RPG market decreased from 77% in 2019 to 69.5% in 2023.

69.5%

MMORPG share of South Korean mobile RPG market in 2023.

MMORPG share in 2019: 77%

Revenue Catalysts

Character collection and new character releases are crucial for Squad RPG revenue.

The success of Squad RPGs is heavily influenced by character collection mechanics and the release of new characters. These events frequently trigger significant spikes in daily revenue.

Like a new product launch creating a sales surge.

372%

Daily revenue increase for "Goddess of Victory: Nikke" after new character introduction.

Daily revenue increase for "Cookie Run: Kingdom": 148%

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Summary

The South Korean mobile gaming market is characterized by a unique dominance of the role-playing game (RPG) genre, which accounts for approximately 60% of total mobile game revenue. This figure significantly outpaces other major global markets, including Japan, China, and the United States. Data collected between January and August 2023 indicates that while RPGs are the highest-earning genre globally, South Korea stands out as the leading country in terms of the genre's proportional contribution to domestic mobile revenue.

Within the South Korean RPG sector, market dynamics are shifting. Although MMORPGs remain the primary revenue driver, their market share has experienced a gradual decline since 2019. Conversely, squad-based and idle RPGs have demonstrated notable growth. Squad RPGs have increased their share of RPG revenue to 17.7% by 2023, bolstered by successful titles such as Goddess of Victory: Nikke. Simultaneously, idle RPGs have seen their market share grow more than 2.5 times since 2019, reaching 4.4% of the total RPG revenue, driven by both established hits like Legend of Slime and new entrants like Dog Legend.

The analysis, which utilizes store intelligence data from the Apple App Store and Google Play, highlights that revenue growth in these sub-genres is heavily influenced by character collection mechanics and effective advertising strategies. The success of these titles is often tied to the release of new characters or seasonal events, which frequently trigger significant spikes in daily revenue. Furthermore, the strategic use of paid advertising sources has proven critical for the rapid scaling of new idle RPG titles, cementing their role as a growing force within the broader South Korean mobile gaming landscape.