Why Wemade Announces the Revival of 'BuddyBuddy' [Buaeri's Game Dictionary]

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] The nostalgic messenger 'BuddyBuddy' is drawing industry attention as it announces its revival.

According to Wemade on the 6th, 'BuddyBuddy' is preparing to resume its service. Wemade announced on the official BuddyBuddy website, "The winged shoes that connect people, BuddyBuddy, are coming back." However, various possibilities remain open regarding the service method and schedule.

Wemade is a mid-sized game company famous for the 'Mir' intellectual property (IP). It grew by successfully launching titles like 'Legend of Mir' in the Chinese market and recently released the mobile massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) 'Mir4'.

In 2008, Wemade attracted attention by acquiring BuddyBuddy, which was unusual among game companies. At the time, the strategic decision was to attract teenage users by utilizing BuddyBuddy. However, as KakaoTalk and NateOn dominated the market and competition intensified, the service was discontinued in 2012, just four years later.

'BuddyBuddy' was a PC messenger that gained tremendous popularity in the early 2000s. Recently, with the announcement of the nostalgic social networking service (SNS) Cyworld's revival in May, news about 'BuddyBuddy' has also raised users' expectations.

Because of this, various speculations about BuddyBuddy's future are emerging within the industry.

First, there is a possibility that 'nostalgic BuddyBuddy' will be utilized in Wemade's game business marketing. Given BuddyBuddy's high brand recognition, it has enough elements to attract public interest.

There is also a view that BuddyBuddy's revival as a simple messenger service will be difficult. Since KakaoTalk already dominates the messenger market, securing new users and expanding the business would be challenging.

There is a forecast that it will operate in the form of a 'community.' An industry insider said, "It is difficult to overcome KakaoTalk's barrier by targeting only the messenger business," adding, "I think they might hold events to attract game users by leveraging BuddyBuddy's recognition."

Of course, the possibility of resuming a pure messenger service still remains. Regarding this, Wemade stated, "There is no concrete plan for the service yet," but added, "Since the response is enthusiastic, various internal discussions will take place."

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