South Korean Unveils Game Industry to get 630 Billion Won Boost

The South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced a comprehensive plan to foster the country’s game industry from 2024 to 2028. The government aims to support the industry’s growth, focusing on console games, aiming to achieve 30 trillion won in sales, $12 billion in exports, and 95,000 employees by 2028.

The ministry plans to create an ecosystem for the console game industry by collaborating with global platform companies such as Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. The government will support the discovery and promotion of excellent games through a three-stage process, including selecting outstanding proposals, production support and consulting, and facilitating the entry of platform companies.

To enable small-scale developers to enter the console game market, the ministry will diversify financing channels for production costs by utilizing the cultural account of the parent fund, completion guarantees, and interest support.

The government has set aside a budget of 25 billion won for completion guarantees and 5 billion won for interest support this year. Additionally, a mentoring program will address the lack of experience in console game production and distribution among domestic game companies.

Woon Yang-so, head of the Ministry of Culture, Culture and Sports’ Content Bureau, said, “We will invite overseas experts with experience in console game production and distribution to mentor them. The proportion of domestic console games is 1.5 percent as of 2022, but it will be increased to 5 percent by 2028 to balance it with mobile and online games.”

“Domestic game companies are already showing their potential, and if we gather our capabilities nationally, we will become one of the four major game powerhouses with a balance,” he added.

Overseas Expansion Plans

The ministry will also support the overseas expansion of mobile and online games, particularly in markets such as China, India, and the Middle East. The government plans to strengthen networking and establish a national response system to navigate the challenges posed by China’s regulations on foreign-made games.

This includes expanding high-level talks, upgrading the Korea-China-Japan Cultural Content Industry Forum to the ministerial level, and establishing regular communication channels with China’s State Newspaper Publishing Bureau and the State Administration of Culture and Leisure.

“We will actively engage in negotiations and dialogue with the Chinese government. Through this, we will try to advance domestic online and mobile games. India will comprehensively support the Creative Content Agency’s business center by opening it in New Delhi in the second half of the year. Strengthen support systems in the Middle East as well,” added Woon Yang-so.

Government will Nurture Indie Game Industry

Furthermore, the government will nurture the indie game ecosystem by expanding the indie game support project to encourage the development of more creative games. The ministry plans to cooperate with game companies, such as Smilegate, that have consistently supported indie games.

The comprehensive plan aims to revitalize the South Korean game industry, which experienced an 11 percent decline in sales last year, amounting to 19.7 trillion won. The sector accounted for 22 trillion won in sales and $9 billion in exports in 2022, representing 67 percent of the country’s total content exports.

First Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Sports Jeon Byung-geek said, “Through the policies prepared during the period of slowing growth, we will not only support game companies to actively challenge new fields and overcome crises, not just what they are doing well. We will continue communicating with the industry to fill in the gaps.”

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