NHN taking lead in messenger games

NHN is taking the lead in the messenger game market by releasing games via its mobile messenger service Line ahead of its competitors.

The firm said Monday that its first game, Line Birzzle, has had over 2 million downloads a week after its release.
NHN has opened a service platform called Line Channel accessible through the mobile messenger where the puzzle game is available.

“Our Japanese office has made efforts to make Line messenger a variable consumer service platform and our new venture in providing game apps is part of that process,” said an NHN spokeswoman.

The game is currently the top downloadable app in Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Taiwan. Line Birzzle is currently unavailable here, but will arrive this month, the spokeswoman said.

The company says many more diverse entertainment features are under development, including another yet to be named game platform in association with game company Gamevil. The partner company announced last week that many of its new releases will be designed for platforms provided by NHN.

Industry experts say the success of the game platform comes as good news for the Internet firm amid domestic market saturation and previous failures to expand abroad. Line is unique among domestic competitors as the majority of its subscribers are foreigners.

Though the first game is free with a more advanced version available for a fee, company officials say future line-ups will include “high quality games” that will charge per download which will bring in substantial revenue.

“NHN’s numerous attempts to venture out of the country have been negative but the recent surge of its mobile messenger has made it an important growth engine that will determine the company’s future,” said an industry official requesting anonymity.

NHN’s Internet portal Naver is still No. 1 in the domestic market but has no growth potential in itself and is suffering from declining revenue. This prompted its chairman, Lee Hae-jin, to hold an internal conference in March in which he blasted employees for their lack of commitment to company projects.

Line’s impact in Korea has been shaded by rival Kakao Talk, but it is ahead overseas. Of its 43 million subscribers, over 80 percent are based abroad. The company is targeting 100 million subscribers by the end of the year and has been promoting the service in Southeast Asia. Kakao Talk plans to release its game platform this month. <The Korea Times/Cho Mu-hyun>

news@theasian.asia