泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌 _ Key to the success of Netmarble

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌

[A love song for games of the dragon waiting for an opportunity]

 

Key to the success of Netmarble

Netmarble Together with Press (NTP) took place not long ago. The gist of what Bang Jun-Hyuk, the chairman of Netmarble, said in the event is as follows.

Firstly, a solid organizational power of Netmarble is the critical success factor and human resource is the most important part of the gaming company. Secondly, Bang hopes that the company's strategy on his speech would be a great help to other domestic mobile-game developers and publishers in the era of unlimited global competition with foreign mobile games. Thirdly, he is ready to accelerate the company's entry into the global mobile-game market and using the brand awareness, the popularity of globally major intellectual properties (IPs), and Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) would be covered under the core strategy. Fourthly, he will implement a key strategy based upon accurate data with numerical statistics which he only believes in. Fifthly, he would grow its subsidiaries stably in turn and their efforts would pay off. Lastly, he has the big four management philosophy: strategic management; innovation and thinking ahead, people-centered management; fostering talented individuals, data-driven management; recognizing the importance of numerical data, participative management; empowering employees of the company.

Bang is the man whom I've never met and I've never damaged by the large publisher. But, as one person working in the video-game-related field, I'd like to dispute his claims made in the speech.

To begin with, let's talk about organizing ability and people-centered management. Probably lots of employees of Netmarble in the Guro Industrial Complex do not leave the office working very hard while I'm writing this column in the middle of the night. I don't want to disparage them. But I've heard rumors several times that high levels of staff turnover of the company is due to a heavy workload. It's not based on the accurate data, however, I cannot find any currently working-level staff as far as I know among employees who had worked in the firm two years ago. The basis of organizational power is teamwork. I doubt whether frequent changes of a member is helpful for fine teamwork.

Besides, he contradicted himself saying that he only believes in numerical data, meanwhile, he admitted that it's hard to predict the exact numerical results of a video game included in show business. And, at least, man - one of the most important parts of his management philosophy - is a creature of impulse who cannot be measured only by a numerical value. I am not fully convinced by the opinion of the leading businessman who develops and distributes content. If a movie can be precisely expected to be a good show before it comes out only by numerical data, the success of the film necessarily depends on a director and staffs who have enough experience for making box-office hits. But we have seen many instances of that combination of factors was disastrous.

Finally, he said that Netmarble holding critical data would be helpful for the local gaming industry. But it seemed like 'follow me' top-down leadership style. I doubt whether the exclusive publishing service of the big publisher would help boost the domestic video-game industry.

I was uncomfortable because he showed confidence-looking defensive attitude in his speech mentioning past successes and optimistic future of the company although Netmarble also has many problems. No one is denying that Netmarble is No.1 mobile-game company in South Korea. Still, if you look closely enough, it relies mostly on sales of the small number of games developed by its subsidiaries for revenue. Many Netmarble-published games have disappeared from the market due to the low probability of success based on its data-driven management and not a few of the subsidiaries have lost quite a bit of money. It's not possible to succeed in every game it releases. It's hard to show dedicated teamwork due to a high turnover of the staff. Some imported games which paid a heavy price to have showed poor outcomes. Of course, Netmarble has brought great achievements. But, it is quite unpleasant to ask small developers to follow its style as it guides because it's obvious that they cannot independently survive in the maturing industry. A video game is a part of the show business and creativity is very important in making it. Numerical data-driven management far from the creativity means that it prefers to uses a method which has already been tried and tested. To create something new always starts at challenging authority. I'm worried about Korea's largest video-game maker who seems a frightening champion because it is afraid of accepting the challenge.

※ This is from Kyunghyang Games column by 泥中蟠龍 since September 2013.

   (http://www.khgames.co.kr)

    Translation by Kim Ki-hui

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌 _ Disney and Touch Touch

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌

[A love song for games of the dragon waiting for an opportunity]

 

Disney and Touch Touch

Inside Out, an American 3D computer-animated comedy film, has recently gotten good reviews from its Korean audiences. It's the movie that I want to watch on the weekend the most. The new Disney film topped other blockbusters with the largest number of viewers per day. It's been in one and a half year since an animated film Frozen was one top of the box office creating a huge sensation in the domestic market. Meanwhile, I deeply impressed by Disney's creative strategy. There are a lot of Disney animations which are well-known here in Korea. Almost anyone in their 20s and 30s probably knows at least a couple of the greatest hits such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Aladdin, and The Lion King, etc.

Do you remember a mobile-game Touch Touch? It's a spot-the-difference casual game which was released a long time ago. The game rules are very simple. A user has to find the differences between the two versions of the same pictures side by side. The rules are easy to understand and the interface is quite user-friendly and intuitive as well. Also, it has a stable system with putting fun factors into the game. Touch Touch helps a player only to stay focus on finding differences and make the user feel a sense of achievement when he/she completes a mission list, which easily shows the user fun. I guess that a considerable number of readers have probably played the game or other similar game at one time or another.

I used to see many female users playing various mobile games when I get to and from work. Most of them usually enjoy playing casual games. They played Anipang in the fall of 2013 and enjoyed Wind Runner for Kakao, I Love Coffee, Everybody's Marble, Candy Crush Saga, etc. since then. Candy Crush Soda Saga seemed the most popular for a while. There hasn't been a new one which was appealing to female casual-game users, however, Disney Catch Catch is slowly gaining popularity among women.

Disney Catch Catch helps users to play the game easily using quite familiar characters and animate scenes from Disney animations and familiar gameplay. It's pleasant to watch a lot of animated scenes from The Lion King, Aladdin, and Frozen, etc. and users can also expect to see more interesting Disney contents which would be added by its performance.

I think that it is necessary to adjust the difficulty of the game. But, while many developers seek the new, finding a point of difference from what we are familiar with made the spot-the-difference casual game pretty appealing. I expect to see many video games with a switch of ideas.

※ This is from Kyunghyang Games column by 泥中蟠龍 since September 2013.

   (http://www.khgames.co.kr)

    Translation by Kim Ki-hui

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌 _ Similar or identical

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌

[A love song for games of the dragon waiting for an opportunity]

 

Similar or identical

In addition to video games, I've been investing in films for the last couple of years. Examining a film scenario is the most important thing when an investor receives a proposal. The funding decision isn't only made by the screenplay, however, it's an essential part of the proposal review. I had enjoyed reading scenarios for a good while. Different stories, a lot of materials, diverse subjects, and different types of characters, etc. were new to me.

A year or so later, the novelty wore off while reading at least two to four scripts a week. When I finished reading more than one-hundred screenplays, various scenes from different scenarios started to be mixed up. I used to find what I read somewhere and the stories are mixed while I was reading a new script. Scenarios themselves are not the problem. Most people experience emotions more or less the same way and they naturally think alike when they create a story.

A lot of hard work of screenwriters, film directors, and film staffs is really what makes new movies possible over and over, yet there are films with similar stories and subjects. There are many movies with a sad love story of a terminally ill woman or man who instantly falls in love and dies of the disease. Including Love Story (1970 American film), The Letter (1997 South Korean film), and A Moment to Remember (2004 South Korean film), there are countless examples of similar stories.

Recently released video games are pretty similar in terms of genre, character, and gameplay. As a video-game user of twenty years experience, sometimes even a newly introduced game looks familiar and lacks the originality and creativity compared to the existing ones. When visiting online game communities, I have encountered comments more often denouncing video games that plagiarized or mimicked other works. A simply identical game to another thing has a problem. But I don't like to condemn it because the new one is similar to the existing one. Like a film, a video game also cannot be made in completely creative ways.

In the same way that we should not throw a stone at all racing games with similar factors, we should not criticize every action RPGs having the same or similar characteristics like life-size characters, fantasy-style images, and 3D quarter view. If we find a quote "You've got to go to Hawaii!" in a new gangster movie taking place in the 1980s, we naturally suppose that the film copied the famous scene of Friend, a 2001 South Korean action film. Likewise, imitative copy in the process of developing game would be condemned. But Virtual Fighter is not blamed for a fighting game which copied Street Fighter. I expect to see similar but new games beyond imitation.

※ This is from Kyunghyang Games column by 泥中蟠龍 since September 2013.

   (http://www.khgames.co.kr)

    Translation by Kim Ki-hui