Taekjin Hyung Who Promised to Change... Can He Find a Breakthrough?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] "I will question the methods and processes that have been taken for granted so far and reexamine them coldly."

This is part of a message sent by Kim Taek-jin, CEO of NCSoft, to all employees on the 17th, just before the Chuseok holiday. As can be inferred from this statement, NCSoft is currently facing a crisis including a decline in brand value, stock price, and user attrition. With CEO Kim signaling a change in management strategy, attention is focused on whether the company can restore its pride as the nation's 'number one' game company.

According to the brand reputation rankings for 34 listed game companies released by the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute on the 20th, the top three brand reputations this month were Krafton, Pearl Abyss, and Netmarble, respectively. NCSoft ranked only fourth. After competing for first or second place for several months, NCSoft failed to make it into the top three this month.

The speed of the stock price decline is even more serious. Seven months ago, NCSoft’s stock price was hovering around 1 million KRW, but it has repeatedly fallen and currently stands at around 580,000 KRW. During the same period, the market capitalization has evaporated by about 10 trillion KRW.

An unusual atmosphere among game users toward NCSoft has been detected since early this year. In particular, the rollback incident of the 'Munyang' item update in Lineage M became the starting point of the crisis. In January, NCSoft implemented an update that reduced the cost to obtain the item from tens of millions of KRW to several million KRW.

During this process, users who spent a lot on 'Munyang,' so-called 'whales,' raised fairness issues, and NCSoft eventually canceled the update. However, afterward, users launched a boycott, claiming that NCSoft prioritized a small number of high-spending users over the majority. Truck protests were also held.

Meanwhile, the number of Lineage users has significantly decreased. According to the big data analysis solution Mobile Index by IGAWorks, the weekly active users of Lineage M (August 23?29) were 138,281, nearly 100,000 fewer than the same period last year (227,139). Lineage 2M users numbered 48,639, about half of last year’s figure (91,021) for the same period.

The 'Lineage brothers,' who had held the top one or two spots in sales rankings for years, lost the lead to 'Odin: Valhalla Rising,' serviced by Kakao Games. Their ambitious title ‘Blade & Soul 2’ was released but also received poor results due to excessive monetization structures that caused user dissatisfaction.

As the sense of crisis within the company intensified, CEO Kim announced, "It is a time for change. We will accurately identify problems and devise alternatives." He added, "For the sake of challenge and change, even if it is unfamiliar and uncomfortable at first, we will change what needs to be changed," and "We will do our utmost to transform into what customers expect."

First, the second showcase of ‘Lineage W,’ scheduled for the 30th, is expected to be the first step toward the 'change' announced by CEO Kim. NCSoft prepared the second showcase to address users’ questions and provide detailed information about the game before its release.

The showcase will be conducted in a format that answers users’ main questions in detail. This approach is interpreted as NCSoft directly attempting to manage the negative public opinion that has recently surfaced.

However, experts point out that unless NCSoft abandons its business model based on the existing monetization structure, fundamental changes will be difficult to achieve. Professor Wi Jeong-hyun of Chung-Ang University, president of the Korea Game Society, said, "They were addicted to the 'loot box' type items and mistakenly believed that sales were solid by continuously releasing similar games," adding, "Efforts and attitudes to fundamentally solve the problem are needed, but the improvisational attitude and management’s stance seem to have only expanded and exacerbated the problem today."

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