Relief Pitcher 'Ares', Will Kakao Games Rebound?

Kakao Games officially launched its new title, 'Ares: Rise of Guardians' (hereafter Ares), on the 25th. Following a sluggish performance in the first quarter, attention is focused on whether the new release Ares will play the role of a savior amid expectations of continued weak results in the second quarter.

Early Response Not Bad, Optimization Issues Need Fixing

Ares is the first work developed by Second Dive, a newly established developer founded in 2019 by CEO Ban Seung-cheol, who developed the ‘Dark Avenger’ series. It drew high expectations with 2 million pre-registrations. When pre-download started at 11 a.m. on the 24th, a day before the official release, it ranked first in popularity on the Apple App Store within five hours.

As the game officially launched on the 25th, users began to flock in. Some reported difficulties accessing the game due to download errors and server disconnections. Users connected evenly across all Ares servers, resulting in a relatively high user inflow rate compared to other new releases.

Early reviews are also not bad. Unlike typical medieval-themed MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games), Ares’ world combines the future with fantasy. The ‘non-target action’ system, which allows wide-range attacks without aiming, received positive feedback. Additionally, players enjoyed the ‘feel’ of the game by evading attacks and combining various weapons for their assaults.

However, Ares was not immune to the common early issues faced by new games, such as optimization problems. Possibly due to the large influx of users early on, ‘lag’ causing interruptions in gameplay occurred in many places. Many users also expressed dissatisfaction with the monetization model. Due to the nature of MMORPGs, a ‘probability-based gacha’ payment model is inevitable, but there were reactions that the low probabilities excessively encourage spending.

Ares play screen.

Q3 Performance Hinges on Ares’ Results

Financial information firm FnGuide estimated that Kakao Games will record 293.6 billion KRW in sales and 37.5 billion KRW in operating profit for the second quarter. This represents a 13% and 54% decrease respectively compared to the same period last year.

Kakao Games released ‘ArcheAge War’ in the first half of the year, but it was deemed insufficient to cover the revenue decline from 'Odin: Valhalla Rising' (hereafter Odin). Odin was launched in Japan last month but performed poorly, and scheduled updates were delayed, leading to decreased sales.

Ultimately, whether Kakao Games’ performance rebounds in the third quarter depends on Ares’ success. Kakao Games is putting all its efforts into promoting Ares. They have conducted large-scale outdoor advertisements at Incheon International Airport, as well as at locations including ▲Gangnam Station underground shopping mall ▲Gangnam CGV G-Light and K-pop Live ▲COEX.

Earlier, Kakao Games CEO Cho Gye-hyun stated, "Ares is an attractive game with action that breaks the limits of MMORPGs through non-targeting action implemented with unique technology, providing the thrill of annihilating multiple enemies," adding, "Ares will be a new game changer in the MMORPG market in 2023."

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