PC online games boost mobile market growth
Mobile online item stores create a new market for mobile users
Statistics revealed by Nexon Mobile in relation to its wireless stores, which sell items for online games, suggest that the popularity of the service is assisting in the overall growth of the Korean mobile gaming market.
Korea's SK Telecom signed an agreement in August 2005 to convert Nexon's popular online games to mobile and jointly collaborate on marketing and promotional activities.
The two companies worked closely to commercialise the 'Cart Rider Member Shop', which successfully transformed the online game to a wired and wireless combination that has generated more than KRW 1.5 billion (EURO 1.3 million) since its launch last August. The introduction of a similar 'members' shop' for another of Nexon's games, Mayple Story, has achieved similar figures since its launch in October 2005.
The collaboration between the two firms, which offers customers the ability to extend their online gaming experience through the purchase of unique items in the mobile sto,re has created a significant increase in the conversion from purely online to a combined wired and wireless gaming sector.
Nexon plans to add further functionality to its mobile store services, including a bulletin board and the ability to communicate with other members.
The popularity of the mobile stores and wired/wireless game combinations has sparked interest from a number of different developers and publishers, with members of Sejung Namo Interactive's mobile store for its Free Style online basketball game exceeding 14,500 in just one month.