Netmarble might be one of the largest games companies that most Western gamers haven\u2019t heard of. The South Korean giant, known for the\u00a0Lineage<\/em>\u00a0MMORPG franchise, is worth almost $9 billion and has its sights set on the U.S. market. That effort is led by Simon Sim, president of Los Angeles-based Netmarble U.S., who will be speaking at our upcoming GameDaily Connect at Disneyland, August 27-29.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n GameDaily caught up with Sim for a brief chat during E3 as the company demonstrated King of Fighters All Star<\/em> in the background. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sim informed us that more than 70% of Netmarble\u2019s $1.8 billion in revenues last year came from outside of Korea, and around 30% of the pie could be attributed to the U.S. market as of the first quarter of this year. Sim sees the potential for even greater growth in Western territories.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe U.S. is one of the biggest markets for us,\u201d he stressed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s in no small part thanks to Netmarble\u2019s acquisition of Kabam<\/a> in 2017, enabling it to control the popular Marvel: Contest of Champions<\/em> game, joining its already successful Marvel: Future Fight.<\/em> Prior to that, in 2015 Netmarble had significantly in Jam City (formerly SGN), which strengthened its presence in the casual space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sim is keenly aware that the mobile markets in the West and Asia are not equal. Players\u2019 attitudes towards gameplay and monetization can be drastically different in these regions, and understanding these differences will be key for Netmarble\u2019s U.S. expansion under Sim.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor the Western market, we consider users’ behavior and, for example, playtime. Also, from a monetization perspective, some business models are [widely] acceptable in Asia, including Korea, Japan, and China. But that model is not going to be accepted in the Western market,\u201d he noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sim explained that the so-called \u201cgacha\u201d mechanic, in particular, is not a monetization scheme that Asian gamers would be bothered by. This loot box-style mechanic asks players to spend money without knowing exactly what they\u2019re going to get for that cash outlay. The late Nintendo President, Satoru Iwata, famously\u00a0objected to this kind of monetization<\/a>, but it\u2019s certainly worked wonders for Netmarble.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sim said that players in Asia have no problem \u201caccepting randomness\u201d and that part of the experience is spending with the expectation that if you don\u2019t get the big item you were hoping for this time, there\u2019s a chance you will next time. For the players in the U.S., however, he understands that they need something \u201csomewhat predictable,\u201d or that they should just be offered an option for direct purchase of the in-game item they desire.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to understand that motivations for play can impact behavior as well. As Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad recently wrote for GameDaily<\/a>, gamers in the U.S. seem to care much more than those in Asia about \u201cbeing immersed in a compelling game world (Fantasy), interacting with an elaborate story and large cast of NPCs (Story), exploration and experimentation (Discovery), and customizing their avatar\/town\/spaceship.\u201d On the other hand, there\u2019s an increased focus on competition, leaderboards and game completion in Asia, particularly in China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While Asia is certainly not a monolith<\/a>, generally speaking Sim acknowledged that there are better chances for engagement with players in Asian markets because so much of the population uses public transportation and spends time on smartphones. \u201cThey play longer than Western players because in Asia there’s a lot of commute time, versus Western gamers who need to drive, need to take care of kids, or other things. So they have less time to play on a daily basis,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Netmarble U.S., the challenge as it continues its expansion will be to adapt its mechanics to suit Western player behaviors. Sim said that his company has already been doing that within its wildly successful Lineage 2: Revolution<\/em>, which launched in 2017 and quickly amassed $1 billion in revenue in its first year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDuring that [first-year] journey, we observed Western gamers\u2019 behaviors. [They] play more than four hours a day on\u00a0Lineage 2: Revolution<\/em>\u2026 So we did a deep dive to realize how they play [for] this long time,\u201d Sim said, noting that many players took advantage of both the mobile version on the go and the PC version at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Netmarble began its life nearly two decades ago as a PC-focused game developer, it now supports both, and that\u2019s been hugely beneficial, as Sim explained. Sim said that he thinks cross-play opportunities between platforms will continue to be important. He considers Netmarble to be a \u201ctrendsetter\u201d in Asia and the company hopes to become the same in North America. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lineage 2: Revolution <\/em>is truly the only game of its kind as an MMORPG on mobile that supports massive 200-player battles and was built on Epic\u2019s Unreal Engine. Sim stressed that Netmarble prioritizes \u201chigh fidelity\u201d games, and one look at Lineage or the upcoming Blade & Soul Revolution<\/em>, to be released this year, is evidence of that approach. Blade & Soul Revolution<\/em> also continues to push the limits, as Netmarble will support 500-vs-500 player battles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re not just following other games, [other] successful games. We try to be a trendsetter. We try to be innovative,\u201d Sim added. \u201cWe try to bring a somewhat different but familiar form to the players. And also we have more games [to come], [like our] Magic the Gathering IP, which is more popular in Western markets, less than in Asia. So we are working on that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The transition into mobile for Netmarble has been a no-brainer, given that mobile gaming continues to account for the lion\u2019s share of global games revenue and is a driving force in the industry\u2019s growth trajectory<\/a>. Netmarble shows no signs of slowing down. The company had reportedly been one of the suitors<\/a> on a list to bid for fellow Korean games company Nexon, but Sim could not comment on that situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sim will be just one of a number of executives coming to GameDaily Connect next month to share their expertise on the business of games<\/a>. If you\u2019re eager to hear more about Netmarble\u2019s views on the industry and how it\u2019s evolving its strategy to the U.S. market, we strongly encourage you to come to Sim\u2019s talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n