Chapter 336
Chapter 336
I instructed the staff on the intercom.
“Please bring me some of the materials I mentioned.”
[Yes, senior… … No, sir!]Less than an hour later, Yuri came up with a pile of materials.
“Here it is.”
“Good work.”
I looked through those materials with Taek-gyu.
The global game market is currently worth about $180 billion. It is growing at a high rate of more than 10 percent every year, and recently, the growth has grown even greater by combining with new technologies such as VR.
The size of the Korean game market is about 15 trillion won. Exports rose more than 20 percent year-on-year, earning $8 billion last year alone. China accounts for half of the major exporting countries.
However, imports are as large as exports. China accounts for the largest share of imports.
“It is a thing of the past to say that Chinese games are bad. We have invested so much in the meantime, and if you look at Chinese games that are coming out these days, you can believe that they are Korean or Japanese games.”
As the Chinese game market grew, so did Chinese game companies. As in other fields, Chinese game companies have grown into global players thanks to their huge domestic market, government support, and technology copying.
Recently, hit Chinese games have appeared in Korea.
The most famous of these companies is Witchant. It is a comprehensive Internet company that invests not only in games, but also in the Internet industry such as messenger, SNS, and cloud.
The influence it has on the game world is enormous, not only directly developing and distributing games, but also hosting the world’s largest e-sports, and acquiring or holding stakes in famous game companies in the US, Japan, and Korea.
With a current market cap of 2.4 trillion yuan, it was once the number one Chinese company and the number one Asian company, but now it has been handed over to Susheng Electronics.
Even in the early days of its establishment, Witchant toured Korean game companies, begging them to entrust the publishing to them. But now the situation has changed 180 degrees.
As the Chinese market occupies an overwhelming proportion of Korean game exports, domestic game companies are all standing in line in front of Witchant and begging them to publish.
“Isn’t China’s game regulations too strict these days?”
“Well, it is nothing compared to the regulations of the Ministry of Leisure. And they have a huge domestic market.”
I continued to look at the material.
The Ministry of Leisure is not only regulating the game industry, but also the entire cultural industry such as broadcasting, film and music. Whether it is trying to revive the pre-deliberation system for albums, or strengthening the standards for harmful media for youth.
Recently, they have reached out to one-person broadcasters such as A-Tube to discover cases of gender equality violations, and announced that they will release guidelines and regulatory guidelines.
In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that the regulation of the Korean cultural industry began along with the history of the cultural industry.
As Korea went through a military regime and rapid industrialization, only economic growth was the top priority. Therefore, factors that interfere with study and work were the target of eradication.
Before the game, cartoons were designated as harmful media for teenagers and suffered all kinds of censorship and hardship.
As a result, the Korean comics industry practically collapsed and had to depend on Japanese comics imports. After that, the cartoon market continued to stagnate for a long time until the webtoon market opened.
“Not all cartoons are dead. There was one magic word that could turn a bad cartoon that was scarier than a compatible mama into great content.”
“what is that?”
“education.”
“Ah… … .”
Cartoons are harmful and evil.
However, if ‘education’ is added to it and becomes ‘educational cartoon’, it will be beneficial and excellent. Even while the general comics market was devastated, the educational comics market was completely silent. Therefore, educational cartoons such as ‘Magic Heavenly Characters’ or ‘Greek and Roman mythology through cartoons’ could have been born.
“The game industry is so large that it cannot be compared with comics. And unlike comics that can be produced by one person, professional manpower and huge capital are put in, so once an industry collapses, it is difficult to rebuild it.”
Of course, every industry needs regulation.
The problem is that Appropriate regulation is the basis for securing and nurturing the soundness of the industry, but excessive regulation cuts off the buds altogether.
It would be better if all countries around the world regulate it together. However, if only Korea imposes severe regulations, it is no different than telling them to fight with their hands and feet tied.
Let’s say we eradicated domestic game companies in this way. So will all the problems be solved?
You’re welcome. As you can see from the scale of the game industry’s import and export, foreign games will of course fill the void of domestic games. If the Ministry of Recreation puts the same regulations on foreign companies, it will immediately be brought to the WTO.
In the end, excessive regulation only collapses the domestic game industry and yields nothing.
* * *
OTK Company headquarters conference room.
About 50 people entered the largest conference room in the company. The game company representatives who received the buster call (?) from Team Leader Jeong Ki-hong gathered in secret.
Kim Jin-taek, president of LC Soft, Joo Won-hong, president of NA Games, Ha Yu-sik, president of Let Marble, etc.
Large corporations, SMEs, listed companies, unlisted companies, etc. It can be said that all major domestic game companies have gathered.
Taek-gyu in a gray sweatshirt was sitting at the top, and Sang-yeop and I fell to the side. Taek-gyu was holding the weight with his elbows on the table, interlocking his fingers.
Some of the presidents of large game companies have seen them at parties, but most say they don’t know who they are.
‘Who is he?’
‘Why isn’t Kang Jin-hoo, but a part-timer sitting there?’
‘Didn’t you come to the conference room by mistake?’
‘Or maybe he… … ?’
‘surely… … ?’
Those eyes came and went.
I got up and introduced Taek-gyu.
“I am Taek-gyu Oh, vice president of OTK Company.”
All but a few were shocked.
“Five! OTK Company Vice President!”
“To lead OTK Company’s investment in the cultural industry!”
“The one who established the OTK Award for the development of subcultures!”
The existence of the Vice President of OTK Company in the game industry is very well known. This is because he is the one who made the Lost Fantasy M successful by investing in Shigeru Ichikawa.
When everyone was seated, Taek-gyu looked around them and said,
“I have brought you all here to listen to the difficulties of the game industry today. It’s great to see people who have developed games that I’ve loved since I was little, in one place.”
First, there was time for self-introduction. Everyone grabbed the microphone and stood up and said their name. Taek-gyu, who was quietly listening to the introduction, opened his mouth.
“The boss of Hoon Game and Farming Game. You two can go out.”
Then they were surprised.
“Yes?”
“Why?”
Taek-gyu just cut it off.
“I don’t think of GoStop and poker as games. It’s just a gamble. So, discuss the matter on your own.”
Hoongame CEO Jang Su-hwan said it was unfair.
“We also have Baduk!”
“… … .”
Anyone who hears it thinks it’s a game of Go.
Although the two companies have grown into GoStop, Poker, and Baduk (?), they are also investing hard in mobile games and online games for image laundering. They are all ruined.
The two talked hard about it, and the presidents of other game companies came forward and took their side. Taek-gyu put the two of them back in their seats as if he had no choice.
The self-introduction continued. This time it was the turn of a middle-aged man.
“I am Dongsoo Joo, the president of Under the Seasoft.”
“What? Under the?”
Taek-gyu screamed in anger.
“get out!!!”
“Come on, wait a minute, deputy chief!”
“Wait what? Get it out now!”
Security staff pulled CEO Dong-soo Joo outside. This time no one stopped.
What the hell is this?
Confused, I listened to the explanation and nodded.
“Ah, the legendary Sea Story.”
The time is now 2004. At a time when the arcade game industry was struggling with the advent of PC rooms, an arcade game called Sea Story appeared like a comet. But this is a nice arcade, in fact, it was closer to pachinko.
It was so addictive and meandering that the C-Story craze swept across the country. You and I were busy bringing in SeaStory game consoles, and similar games that copied them were popping up all over the place.
As a result of this, many people lost their wealth and committed suicide, and it became a social problem. In the end, the president was arrested, all game consoles were confiscated and destroyed, and the game company was closed.
As a result of this incident, the perception of the game was extremely deteriorated, and the Game Rating Committee was born. The problem is that not only speculative games, but also general games have become the subject of regulation.
Under the Seasoft is a company founded by the people who made Sea Story in the past. Considering that the game industry has suffered because of them, I have nothing to say if I get kicked out.
Team leader Jeong Ki-hong bowed his head and said.
“Sorry. I did not know it was such a company.”
If you don’t know much about the game, that might be it.
After self-introduction and seat arrangement, the full-fledged meeting began.
Currently, the biggest interest in the Korean game industry is the “Act on the Prevention and Treatment of Internet Game Addiction Prevention and Support” proposed by the National Assembly.
If this bill is passed, the game industry will be under the control of the Ministry of Recreation. All game companies were trembling in fear and were busy preparing countermeasures.
In this situation, when the OTK Company contacted me, I ran to him within a month.
President Kim Jin-taek first complained of difficulties.
“We do not hire manpower, earn foreign currency by exporting, and fill the leisure time of the people. What the hell did we do wrong?”
“The Ministry of Recreation regulates games, but the government tells us to export more games. How is this different from Korea’s plan to encourage exports of nuclear power plants to foreign countries while denuclearization?”
“I feel embarrassed that I am doing something bad, even if it is not illegal.”
“Many developers leave their companies because they are tired of regulation and censorship.”
“Sometimes I feel guilty about making some kind of pest.”(Read more @ wuxiax.com)
“I just want to make a game that everyone can enjoy and enjoy. But these days, I am ashamed to tell my children that I make games.”
“A kid at school boasted that his dad made condensing, and my kid didn’t say anything in front of him. Is making a game a sin?”
Money is money, but professional pride is very important. However, since the game is treated like an illegal industry, there is no way developers will be motivated.
The conversation continued for several hours.
After their respective narration was over, Taek-gyu opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“I have listened to you all. The situation is much more serious than I thought. I think that the Korean game industry could really collapse. However… … .”
Taek-gyu looked around the conference room and continued.
“You have to admit that game companies have failed to fulfill their social responsibilities because they have been busy making money. If the industry had come up with a way to regulate speculation and addictiveness, the perception of the game wouldn’t have been this messed up, and there wouldn’t have been such a strong regulatory bill. For this issue, large game companies should first take responsibility and come up with a rational and autonomous regulatory plan.”
Some blushed and coughed, but couldn’t resist.
As Taek-gyu said, the big game companies are also at fault for the situation to have reached this point. After all, are there any gamers who take the side of the leisure club because they get angry about drawing and billing?
Taek-gyu raised his glasses and lowered his voice for nothing.
“From now on, you must completely trust me. Trusting me means not being afraid no matter what the situation is, expecting you to see the best results.”
At those words, the faces of the game company presidents brightened.
“I am really?”
This meant that the OTK Company was going to bear the guns for game regulation. There is no need to even explain the influence the OTK Company has on the political and financial world.
LC Soft President Kim Jin-taek jumped up and said.
“I will completely trust the Vice President.”
Starting with this, the other bosses rose one by one.
“So do i.”
“I will not be afraid no matter what happens.”
“I look forward to seeing the best results!”
“I believe!”
“I will trust you and follow you!”
“… … .”
This is not a testimony of any faith.
Taek-gyu nodded his head as if he was satisfied.
“good. Again, please leave the game regulation issues entirely to me, and just focus on making good games.”
