"Office Workers' Lunchtime Devil Hunting Buzz... 'Diablo 4' as PC Bang Savior"

COVID-19 and Electricity Price Hike Direct Hit
Hit Releases Draw Crowds of Office Workers
PC Bang Game Rises to 3rd Place in Market Share

Role-playing game (RPG) 'Diablo 4', officially released on the 6th, is changing the landscape of PC bangs. Despite suffering serious setbacks due to COVID-19 and electricity price hikes, customers eager to enjoy the game have started flocking in.

According to Yonhap News on the 16th, a PC bang near Gangnam Station in Seoul, an area dense with corporate offices and commercial buildings, began to buzz with office workers visiting around lunchtime. These were gamers in their 30s to 40s looking to enjoy 'Diablo 4'.

Kim (36), an office worker in the financial sector, said, "I don't usually play games that often, but when I heard a sequel to 'Diablo', which I enjoyed in my teens, was released, I bought it immediately," adding, "It feels like the classic game 'Diablo 2' vibe is alive, which is delightful."

A similar scene unfolded at other nearby PC bangs.

Jung (44), who works at an IT company, said, "I don't have a PC at home, so I play games at PC bangs during lunch or after work," and added, "Colleagues and friends of similar age often talk about 'Diablo 4' as well."

PC bang owners are also visibly pleased with the emergence of a 'hit' game based on the PC platform after a long time.

According to the Korea Creative Content Agency's '2022 Korea Game White Paper', the number of PC bangs in Korea dropped sharply every year after falling below 20,000 for the first time since 21,547 in 2009, reaching 9,265 in 2021.

According to the Seoul Institute, 9.2% of domestic PC bangs closed during the COVID period (2020?2022), a decline greater than that of lodging businesses (6.5%), karaoke rooms (5.5%), and billiard halls (3.5%).

According to the PC bang data analysis site 'GameTriks', as of the 14th, Diablo 4's PC bang market share was 9%, ranking third among all games.

The first place was held by 'League of Legends' (41.3%), which has maintained the top spot for about five years, and second place was Nexon's 'FIFA Online 4' (10.3%).

The 2000 Diablo 2 Craze... Also Caused Social Issues

Rod Fergusson, General Manager of Diablo, is giving a greeting at the Diablo 4 Open Beta briefing held on the 15th at the InterContinental Seoul COEX in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, the first installment 'Diablo', released in 1996, was praised mainly in overseas markets for its gameplay emphasizing action and growth elements rather than complex narratives.

The moment Diablo became widely famous in Korea was with the release of 'Diablo 2' in 2000.

The popularity of Diablo 2 also triggered issues such as game addiction and violence concerns coming to the surface at that time.

The official sequel 'Diablo 4', released after 11 years, has been praised worldwide for successfully combining the serious atmosphere of 'Diablo 2' and the improved accessibility of 'Diablo 3' with a modern sensibility, achieving global success.

Blizzard unusually disclosed its sales figures on the 13th, announcing that Diablo 4 sold $666 million (approximately 854 billion KRW) worldwide within five days of its release.

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