Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Have courage to create uncontested market space _泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌

I have ever heard such a funny story that Kang Ho Dong, a South Korean MC and comedian, is not known to many junior high and high school students as the top Korean traditional wrestler-turned-TV star. The former wrestler began his MC and comedian career in 1999, appearing on MBC as a talent. But 20 years later, his successful Ssireum career appears to have not existed anymore.

Game users are no strangers when it comes to being released games through Kakao Talk almost like MC Kang Ho Dong. Kakao Talk Game Center opened just 3 years ago, however, we already got used to it.

I've recently asked a representative of a gaming company about the type of game before I had a business meeting with him. "Are there still online game companies want to be invested?" He asked me in return. Unfortunately, it's not easy to see letters outlining an investment for making online games nowadays. But I am a little bit perplexed by the current situation where many game developers are making their games for a mobile platform like Kakao Talk.

A lot of mobile gaming companies were started to found from the fall of 2012 like so many mushrooms after rain when mobile games like Anipang, Dragon Flight made a great hit with Kakao Talk social network. Focused investments were naturally being made on mobile games and the trend reached its climax in 2013.

I was looking for a promising online gaming company to invest when Kakao Talk was more than a success in late 2012. My logic was simple and clear. Online games were ignored by investors and venture capitalists and there was no investment for them at the moment. I thought that new online game productions will sharply reduce in 2~3 years if online game makers should stop manufacturing due to lack of investment. And I was sure that a few online game companies can provide a differentiated service to create uncontested market space and have the potential to succeed in 2~3 years.

We usually use words such as the red ocean or blue ocean. However, people usually cannot easily sure that the blue ocean is a good choice for them unlike the red ocean because there is no competition. That's why people who choose blue ocean are brave and they finally win recognition.

Online games are once again rising recently thanks to Black Desert's good performance. In 2013, I made an investment in one online developer and I failed to invest in the other due to opposition from within the company. The online maker I couldn't invest in is NPIC SOFT developed ELOA posting a good score nowadays. That is one of my lost opportunities but I am also excited. Actually, I had no desire to do it with some regrets, however, I will play the game this week with the greatest pleasure. Even without saying "What goes around comes around," we need to consider it carefully to look back upon the trends of the past which we are not interested in anymore.



泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌 
means "A love song for games of a dragon waiting for an opportunity"



Please click here to read the original in Korean.

ELOA NPIC SOFT Black Desert Anipang comedian Dragon Flight investment Kakao Talk Kang Ho Dong Korean mobile game online game startup venture venture capital





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