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Gamasutra rounds up the week's biggest reports on South Korea's booming online games market from local news site This Is Game, including news about Diablo III's popularity in the country, and a new lawsuit against Nexon.

Eric Caoili, Blogger

May 25, 2012

2 Min Read

[Gamasutra rounds up the week's biggest reports on South Korea's booming online games market from This Is Game, the leading English-language site about the country's game industry.] In our latest round-up of news from South Korea's online games space, we look at Diablo III's popularity in the country, and a new lawsuit against Nexon. How long will Diablo III fever last in Korea? Diablo III's sales have been off to a great start, as the PC game managed to move over 6.3 million copies around the world in a week -- Blizzard Entertainment claims it is the top-played game in South Korea's "PC Bang" cyber cafes, too. That success has surprised many in South Korea, as evidenced by a survey of 230 local game developers and professionals. 90 percent of participants said the game's popularity exceeded their expectations. The survey also found that 30 percent of respondents expect Diablo III's popularity to last through June, while 17 percent expect its popularity to extend into 2013. Participants said Riot Games' League of Legends and NCsoft's Aion have taken the biggest hit in their audiences due to Diablo III's popularity. Cyber cafe owners plan to sue Nexon over excessive fees A group of cyber cafe owners known as Korea's "Internet Cultural Content Corporation" intend to sue MapleStory maker Nexon, and have file a complaint over unfair corporate practives with the country's Fair Trade Commission. Among their grievances, the group allege that Nexon's games continue to charge fees to cyber cafes even when those games are not being played (users can play free-to-play titles for free at home, but cyber cafes must pay fees). Nexon Korea says that problem has been resolved, and claims that it's immediately compensated cyber cafes who've experienced the issue, paying them back three times the original fee. [This story was written with permission using material from ThisIsGame Global, the leading English-language site about the South Korean game industry.]

About the Author(s)

Eric Caoili

Blogger

Eric Caoili currently serves as a news editor for Gamasutra, and has helmed numerous other UBM Techweb Game Network sites all now long-dead, including GameSetWatch. He is also co-editor for beloved handheld gaming blog Tiny Cartridge, and has contributed to Joystiq, Winamp, GamePro, and 4 Color Rebellion.

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