'Making Money While Gaming' Game Companies Jump on NFT Trend

Wemade Mir4 Leader
NC and Gamevil Accelerate New Businesses
Already a Sensation Overseas Including the Philippines

The era of ‘Play to Earn (P2E)’ has arrived in the domestic gaming industry. P2E means ‘earning money while playing games.’ Major game companies are adopting blockchain-based non-fungible token (NFT) technology in their games as a strategy to nurture it as a core business for the future.

P2E Establishes Itself as the Trend

The leader of P2E in the domestic industry is Wemade. According to industry sources on the 12th, Wemade combined blockchain and non-fungible coin (NFC) technology in its game MIR4 Global. Draco (DRACO), a tokenized form of the game’s core currency, Black Iron, is issued based on WEMIX. Draco can be traded on the decentralized exchange (DEX) within the WEMIX Wallet blockchain wallet service.

In particular, Wemade applied an interest concept called Derby (Daily Exchange Rate By Yield) to Draco. This is an exchange rate that pays interest in addition to the 100,000 Black Iron used to refine Draco when exchanging Draco back to Black Iron. The interest corresponds to one-billionth of the cumulative Black Iron mined in the game up to the day before the exchange. This reflects an organic connection between the in-game economy and the real economy. Furthermore, NFT technology has been applied to MIR4’s characters. Users can NFT-ize their characters and trade them within the WEMIX Wallet.

NCSoft has formed its own task force (TF) and is preparing to apply blockchain technology. It plans to launch new services combining NFT and blockchain next year. In particular, NFT technology is expected to be introduced to NCSoft’s flagship intellectual property (IP), Lineage. Regarding this, Hong Won-joon, NCSoft’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), said yesterday, "You probably already know which game it will be applied to without me saying." He added, "I believe massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are the most suitable genre for this application," and "Our mid- to long-term strategy is to evolve the cross-play platform ‘Purple’ into a global gaming community combining NFT and blockchain."

Gamevil is also accelerating its new business based on blockchain technology. It plans to equip its game-specialized platform ‘Hive’ with a blockchain-dedicated software development kit (SDK) and issue its own token, tentatively named C2X. Jang Jong-cheol, head of Gamevil’s production division, explained, "We expect to issue C2X as early as the end of this year or the first quarter of next year. Although it is difficult to disclose the listing exchange and issuance scale at this time, preparations for token issuance have progressed considerably." He added, "Tokens will be acquired through activities that produce key in-game currencies, and will be consumed in selling items and character growth processes within the game."

Netmarble has also started developing games linked with blockchain and NFTs. Kwon Young-sik, CEO of Netmarble, said, "We are currently developing the part that links blockchain and NFTs with games," and "We plan to hold a briefing early next year with a variety of lineups."

Overseas Frenzy... Regulations Dominate Domestically

Overseas, P2E games incorporating blockchain technology have already become active. A representative example is ‘Axie Infinity.’ Developed by the Vietnamese startup game company Sky Mavis, this game gained huge popularity in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, as a game where players reportedly earn ‘1 million KRW per month.’ There is even a documentary about people paying utility bills and repaying debts through Axie Infinity.

On the other hand, it remains highly uncertain to release games incorporating blockchain technology in the domestic market. This is because the Game Rating and Administration Committee refuses to rate such games due to concerns about gambling. The committee views that "NFTs obtained through the results of chance-based game progress can be freely traded and converted into cash," which is grounds for refusal of rating under the Game Industry Promotion Act.

For this reason, domestic game companies are currently turning their eyes to the global market. CFO Hong said, "Due to regulations, other companies are also starting with overseas releases," and "We are preparing for the initial stages in this context." Although discussions have taken place at times in the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, coordination among government ministries remains difficult. A Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee official stated, "Discussions on revising current laws are necessary, but due to coordination issues with the Financial Services Commission and others, improvements are unlikely in the short term."

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