Gaming Sector Deep Dive
The Korean gaming industry maintains its global stature while facing new challenges in new title performance and AI-based game development.
Key Trends
Krafton's Global Success: Krafton maintains overwhelming market share in emerging markets like India and Southeast Asia alongside continuous PUBG franchise growth. Portfolio diversification with new IPs like inZOI is also succeeding.
NCSoft's Transition Period: NCSoft is attempting to expand from traditional MMORPG dominance to diverse genres. Market reception of new titles like 'Hoyeon' will be a key stock price variable. The company is also investing in AI-based NPC and game content generation technology.
AI and Gaming Convergence: Generative AI-powered automatic game content generation, NPC dialogue systems, and game balancing are being adopted across the industry, expected to reduce development costs and expand content diversity.
Investment Outlook
The gaming sector sees high volatility based on new title performance, but Krafton's stable PUBG revenue and new IP success potential are positive. NCSoft's turnaround success is key, with current valuations in undervalued territory.
Risk Factors
Risks include new title commercial failure, gaming regulation tightening (especially in China), user churn, and the gaming industry's economic sensitivity.