Korean Game Industry Forecasts 47% Growth 2002-2005

Note the sharp growth curve in that country's game industry: the game market grew 13% to 3.4 trillion won in 2002, it is expected to reach 4 trillion won this year, 4.5 trillion in 2004, and 5 trillion the following year. In particular, the mobile games market is expected to jump dramatically in Korea, due to the country's widespread use of wireless services. Forecasts have it reaching 380 billion won by 2005. Online gaming, one of the crown jewels in the country's game industry, is also expected to see tremendous growth. Companies in this segment increased their revenues by 69 percent from 2001 to 2002, reaching 450 billion won. That is expected to double by 2005, to 900 billion won. Korean game makers accounted for 1.7 percent of worldwide game market revenues in 2002, but when looking at just at the online game segment, Korean companies carved out a 6.7 percent share.