[Weekend Game] "Shall We Play with the WBC?"... Rising Expectations for Baseball Games Ahead of the Season

With the opening of the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), expectations are rising among gaming companies that own baseball games. There is anticipation that if the national team performs well in the WBC and the start of the domestic professional baseball season coincide, the popularity of baseball games will also increase.

In the first match of Group C in the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) held at Tokyo Dome, Japan on the 5th, South Korea played against the Czech Republic. In the bottom of the 8th inning with two outs, Korea's Jermaine Jones hit a solo home run and is celebrating. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

According to the industry and other sources on March 7, Com2uS is holding an event in its mobile game "MLB Rivals" to coincide with the opening schedule of the 2026 WBC. Users can obtain up to 120 WBC commemorative scout tickets and WBC Prime Packs through the event until March 22. In addition, depending on their progress in the event, users can also acquire enhancement cards, points, and more. In another Com2uS mobile game, "Com2uS Pro Baseball V26," special login rewards such as Live Coins and Home Run Coins are being given out based on the performance of the national team during WBC games.

Wemade is also working to attract users through events. The Wemade baseball game "Fantastic Baseball" has been running the "2026 International Baseball Tournament Grand Festival" event since March 5. Every time the Korean or U.S. national team advances to the next round in the WBC, rewards are given out. If either the Korean or U.S. team wins the championship, users can receive the 2025 KBO·MLB Prism Diamond Guaranteed Pack and Prism Trade Tickets.

The performance in international tournaments is highly likely to lead to the success of baseball games. In 2008, when the national baseball team won a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, Com2uS saw its annual revenue rise by 30.7 percent year-on-year to 29.8 billion won. The success of mobile baseball games, such as Com2uS Pro Baseball 2009, was reflected in the company’s performance.

This time as well, Com2uS is taking the lead in promotion, participating as an official sponsor of the WBC national team. In addition, on February 28, prior to the opening of the WBC, Com2uS held the "Com2uS Pro Baseball V Festa" at Seongsu-dong Stage X Seongsu Festa in Seoul, inviting users of Com2uS Pro Baseball V26. At the event, participants experienced activities such as a home run race, pitching accuracy tests, and a photo kiosk.

The gaming industry is also looking forward to the imminent start of the domestic professional baseball season. Due to the impact of COVID-19, the number of professional baseball spectators had dropped to about 1.23 million in 2022, but rebounded to 10.89 million in 2024, surpassing the 10 million mark. Last year, the figure continued to increase, reaching 12.31 million. An industry official commented, "If the national team achieves good results in this WBC, baseball games are also expected to generate high sales," adding, "We hope the ongoing popularity of baseball since last year will be reflected in the gaming sector as well."

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