[The Crisis of K-Games] "Chinese Games Dominate, but the Korean Government Has No Statistics"

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] While major Chinese mobile games are dominating the Korean game charts, it has been confirmed that the Korean government does not even have related statistics on Chinese games distributed in Korea. As the issuance of 'panho' (game service licenses within China) has stopped, causing difficulties for the domestic gaming industry to enter the Chinese market, there are calls for the Korean government to prepare detailed countermeasures.

On the 20th, Lee Sang-heon, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, inquired about the "status of Chinese games distributed domestically," and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated, "We do not separately compile related statistics."

Currently, based on domestic Google Play sales, 35% of the top 20 games include Chinese titles such as "Miracle Sword," "Genshin Impact," "Rise of Kingdoms," "Star Rail," "Grand Three Kingdoms," "AFK Arena," and "Illusion Connect." In the past, Chinese games were criticized for inferior graphics and content, but they have rapidly grown in recent years.

Sales of Chinese games in the Korean market are also increasing. According to the Game Production Committee (GPC) of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association, overseas sales of Chinese self-developed games rose from $2.882 billion in Q4 last year to $3.781 billion in Q1 this year. By country export share, Korea accounts for 14.4%. From China's perspective, Korea is the third-largest export market after the United States (29.8%) and Japan (23.38%).

Assemblyman Lee said, "Currently, the Korea-China game market is structured so that it only takes hits and cannot strike back. Although a response strategy should be prepared in advance, it is regrettable that there are no statistics on Chinese games distributed domestically," adding, "Data should be prepared in advance to be used during panho negotiations between Korea and China."

Sangheon Lee, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.