Steve sits down with Min Kim and Mike Crouch from Nexon America to discuss the company’s free-to-play titles, as well as the differences in gamer cultures between the East and the West.
The MMO Gamer: First of all, for those among are readers who maybe unfamiliar, could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little about what it is you do at Nexon.
Min Kim: My name is Min Kim. I’m the VP of Marketing at Nexon.
What I do right now is mostly handle Biz-Dev, marketing strategy, and PR. But I also contribute to a lot the operations side, because that’s where I really started at Nexon, especially at Nexon America.
Having started back in around 2005, I did the local versions for North America. I operated that for North America. And through that we actually ended up opening up the office here. So, the beginnings of my career at Nexon America were actually in operations.
The MMO Gamer: To start us off, you give just a little bit of company background, for those who perhaps haven’t been following you before.
Min Kim: The company was founded in Korea back in 1994. The company in the states, this is actually our second time out, and I know people know that so there is no point to hide it.
We actually closed our doors here in North America, I think in about 2004. But then we opened again.
So we came out with Kingdom of the Winds and a few other games back in the early 2000s. Then we reopened the doors again as Nexon America with MapleStory back in 2005.
The success was so big that there was no way we could have done that or scaled it out of Korea, so we set up shop here in Los Angeles in 2006.
The MMO Gamer: Of course MapleStory has gone on to be, I guess the scientific term would be a ginormous success.
Min Kim: Yeah. [laughs]
The MMO Gamer: I’ve seen some crazy figures thrown around, in the neighborhood of 90 million registered users.
Min Kim: I think MapleStory’s logged over 92 million registration, yes.
The MMO Gamer: How many of those are in the U.S?
Min Kim: The U.S., the last number we put out was slightly over six million registered players in North America.
The MMO Gamer: Those are some very respectable numbers.
Min Kim: I think a big part of it was that we actually answered a market need, back in around 2005 where I think at that point a lot of people were saying that MMOGs or MMORPGS were meant for people that were older, maybe grew up with D&D, who were in their 20s into their 30s playing these games.
We felt the reason why was because the only way to access those games was through a payment mechanism that teens don’t have access to, which is credit cards.
When we launched MapleStory here there was a market need for it but it wasn’t being fed because there were no games that were out that teens could enjoy in an MMO sense because they didn’t have access to credit cards.
The only way they could do that was ask their parents to allow them to subscribe. And for most parents that didn’t grow up with this stuff, it’s like magic beans. It’s like a complete waste of money. So, that’s I think how we started out.
But again, if you look at Asia, MapleStory is extremely successful. It’s probably best in class. And there’s a lot of MMOGs there, and I think they just got it right.
It’s the simplicity mixed with a lot of the art style. I don’t know what came together well, but it just hit it out of the park.
The MMO Gamer: But for all of that, there are a lot of players out there, and even some in the media who don’t seem to consider what you do at Nexon to be making “real MMOs.”
Min Kim: I think, is that up to the last few years, they didn’t consider our type of games as real games. It’s like, “Oh, we don’t cover that” kind of thing. And I think some of that has to do with the fact that our games are online and the content is constantly changing so it’s very difficult to review a game like ours.
Up to the last few years it was just difficult meeting with the press, and to show them our games, because they already had the stereotype of Eastern games being low-quality.
They look at the graphics and think that we’re not able to produce high-end games. We’re totally able to do it. But we make our games like this on purpose because we want 80% of the installed PC base to be able to play.
I honestly think that the PC market has been shooting itself in the foot by constantly pushing the envelope, so that only five people can play it.
I think the controversy now, and what’s making people think is you’ve got companies offering games on Facebook and MySpace that are making a killing. Probably making more money than the next-gen MMOs.
I think what we’ve got to think about is what do the players want? What do the consumers want? And it’s not all the same thing.
The MMO Gamer: On that subject, there’s a lot of talk in the industry these days about a trend towards more casual gaming as opposed to the more AAA titles you were just talking about. There is a notion out there that players want to have their gaming time defined.
They want to know that if they play game X it’s going to take exactly 30 minutes, and then they can get on with their day.
Min Kim: Sessions.
The MMO Gamer: Session play, exactly. That’s the latest buzzword.
As Nexon has seemed, from my outsider’s perspective, to be more of a casual game focused company from the start, what are your thoughts on that subject?
Min Kim: Well, I hate the word “casual” because that’s actually put us in a box, where we’ll meet up with the press and they’ll say, “Oh, they’re a casual game developer.”
But there are a lot of definitions about what casual means. Like one example I give is Texas Hold’Em. According to topaussiecasinos.co, If I’m playing with you guys and we’re playing Texas Hold’Em at my house and I’ve got a $20 buy-in, that’s a very casual experience.
You go to the casinos, where you’re playing at the World Series of Poker and you put $10,000 down, it’s not casual anymore. It’s extremely hardcore even though it’s the same game. [laughs]
I think the word “casual” just makes it more difficult, but I do think that players are looking for different experiences and I think it’s our job in the industry to basically just cater to them all and not limit it.
I feel like we’ve been limiting the market greatly. Games like Dungeon Fighter, you look at it, it looks very casual but I don’t like to use the word “casual.” I like to use the word “approachable.”
So if you’re looking over my shoulder and I’m playing Dungeon Fighter online, that game, I think, is the type of game where your friend who had never seen it before might say, “Hey, move over, I want to try,” because it looks like an arcade game, versus something that is very complex.
Continued on next page…
Nexon America’s Min Kim: Bridging the East-West Divide, and Aiming for a Younger Demographic http://bit.ly/4BvLMo #mmo #mmorpg
RT @TheMMOGamer: Nexon America’s Min Kim: Bridging the East-West Divide, and Aiming for a Younger Demographic http://bit.ly/4BvLMo #mmorpg
#Nexon’s Min Kim on his views of the East and West gamer divide. http://bit.ly/400J5D
Nice article. I do think there is a big problem with the cultural part of East Vs West. Add the language difference and makes for great challenges in itself for developers to come up with a game that is acceptable in both.
The west hates grind to the point they simply won't do it and a game that requires grind will fall to the wayside here. While according to Min the east does not like the grinding but they accept it.
I have played some games from the east and the graphics and things like that weren't that bad but the grind seems to always be there after a certain point. Which presents not only a problem in the West but a great challenge to eliminate this.
The cafe's also are something very big in the East. I don't see them being so at all in the West. Many reasons for this I think. One being security and privacy. The West is more private and less social in that type of gaming environment. We tend to like to be in the comfort of our home where we can take care of things and still play. Mothers that play can do so and have their children right there where they can care for them or stop for a bit to fix dinner for the family. Going to a cafe would mean the need of sitters and other things falling short.
I may be wrong but I think another reason the cafe is used in the East is the availability and cost of internet there. I get this from those I have met in games I have played. In the West it is an option that one can have an afford and play all day with no fear of using too much time and being cut off or paying an extremely high cost. This is also true in Europe as well. The internet is not charged the same in other parts of the world like it is here in USA.
Take that ONRPG members. Grinding is made by lazy, cheap Koreans because they know sheep like players will accept it.
Min Kim says: “I know players everywhere hate it but, we’re just not capable of the effort required to produce a decent amount of content so we just slow it all down to keep the morons playing!”
sad thing is, Nexon can afford it. They can afford a lot of things they desperately need but, are far too greedy and lazy to do so.
[Edited: Please avoid personal attacks.]