Korean Government To Foster Console Game Industry Growth For Next 5 Years

Good news for fans of last year’s Lies of P and this year’s sci-fi action RPG Stellar Blade; Korea from developer Shift Up will keep making console games for a long while.

In a recent announcement from Korea’s culture ministry via First Vice Culture Minister Jeon Byeong-geuk (in Korean Times), Korea will focus on fostering the console game industry in the country over the next 5 years. The country aims to expand its share in the global console game market by 2028, while reducing heavy dependence on online and mobile game platforms.

The Korean government will help local companies cooperate with major global console game companies, which include Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, in efforts to create big blockbuster titles. The ministry also stated that Korea is the 4th biggest game industry in the world thanks to its online and mobile gaming efforts, but only has 1.5% of the worldwide console market share.

This news seems to be timed pretty well, given Stellar Blade’s critical reception this year and Lies of P’s acclaim last year. While the “reducing heavy dependency” part of the news is fine and all, let’s not forget that the reason titles like Stellar Blade got off the ground and landed a publisher like Sony Interactive Entertainment in the first place was due to all the bank made by Shift Up’s own mobile baby: Goddess of Victory Nikke.

5-years seems like a good enough length to go through all the earnings of a big Korean gaming company’s mobile revenue, all for the sake of making console games. At the very least, the future does look bright for game development, albeit in an expensive format.