If You Don't Like It, Change It... Gamers Take to the Streets

Uma Musume Users' Revenue and Ratings Plummet Amid Half-Moon Protest
Daily Truck Demonstrations in Front of Game Company
Game Company Anxious Over Users' Active Complaints

A carriage with protest banners against the game company's operational policies by domestic users of Kakao Games' 'Uma Musume: Pretty Derby' was running on the road near Pangyo Station in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, where Kakao Games headquarters is located, on the morning of the 29th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Pangyo in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, where IT companies are concentrated, has been noisy day after day. Users who raised complaints about the payment and operation policies of game operators have now taken to the streets. On the streets of Pangyo, a truck condemning game companies was followed by a carriage that looks like something from the medieval era. KakaoGames, recently at the center of controversy, is facing threats to its performance amid the users' concentrated backlash.

User Backlash Causes Sales Ranking and Ratings to Plummet

On the 1st, KakaoGames' mobile game "Uma Musume: Pretty Derby" (hereafter Uma Musume) ranked 6th on the Google Play Store and 15th on the App Store in terms of sales. Considering it was ranked around the top 3 until last week, the ranking has sharply dropped within a week.

The cause of the ranking drop is the protests from users opposing Uma Musume's operation policies. On the 29th of last month, users held a "carriage protest" by sending a carriage with protest banners against the operation policies in front of KakaoGames headquarters. Users have been posting on forums certifying the amounts they have paid for the game and are even demanding refunds. As of the 31st of last month, over 3,600 users have expressed their intention to participate in a refund lawsuit, raising the possibility of an actual lawsuit.

Users have launched a rating attack on Uma Musume on the Google Play Store, making it difficult to attract new users. Currently, Uma Musume's rating on the Google Play Store is only 1.2 out of 5. Before the rating attack, the rating was in the high 4s. With the sales ranking falling and new user inflow becoming difficult, KakaoGames is now facing threats to its third-quarter sales.

Uma Musume, developed by Japan's Cygames, is a game where players raise characters inspired by real racehorses and compete in races. KakaoGames released it in South Korea last June. It initially gained popularity due to high-quality Korean localization and excellent gameplay, but recently, user dissatisfaction has increased as major events on the Korean server were announced late and the items and currency given for the same amount are less than those on the Japanese server.

Within the game industry, it is speculated that KakaoGames, as the publisher, is caught in a difficult position between Cygames, the developer, and domestic users. Although publishers usually oversee local game operations, it is known that the developer controls a significant part of the operation policies. The issue of different currency rewards compared to the Japanese server, which users complain about, is also presumed to be due to this reason. KakaoGames has not made a clear statement regarding this matter.

Users Will No Longer Endure

In the past, gamers typically quit playing when dissatisfied with game operations. Game companies mostly responded with an attitude known as "kkojop" (meaning "if you don't like it, quit"). However, as the game industry grew, the relationship between users and game companies has completely changed.

In the game industry, there were three truck protests just last year. The first truck protest last year was triggered by Netmarble's service of "Fate: Grand Order" (hereafter FGO). Netmarble temporarily suspended the New Year event held in Japan, China, Taiwan, and North America only in South Korea, leading to the truck protest.

Since then, truck protests have become a main form of protest by game users. In February last year, users dissatisfied with Nexon's "MapleStory" operation policies staged a truck protest. Later, NCSoft's "Lineage M" became the target of truck protests. Users protested not only in front of NCSoft headquarters but also at the home stadium of the NC Dinos baseball team and even at the National Assembly.

Users do not only use trucks as a means of protest. FGO, which was the target of the first truck protest last year, recently received a "coffee truck" funded voluntarily by users. After the truck protest, Netmarble engaged in steady communication and service improvements, earning praise from users and receiving the coffee truck.

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