Strange enough, this has been quite a slow week for me. I have no idea why, but it just felt that way. I just completed my 2nd assignment for this term, and there are 2 more to finish by the 2nd of May. And it is going to be a tough week at work as well. Sometimes, I just feel glad I have no other commitments to look after. Well, enough of the personal chat, here are some miscellaneous MMO news for the week.
The Korean government and a trade organization (above) have teamed up to develop games which will prevent Alzheimer’s disease. This illness mostly affects people who are around 65 years old. Together with the unnamed game developer/s, the total investment over a period of 2 years will be around USD 1million. I think this is an interesting market which the gaming business has yet to penetrate, and as far as I know, there are several Asian countries facing the problem of aging population.
After India and Russia, it seems a new business region has emerged as the current favorite for Korean online games to be published. This will be the Land of a Thousand Smiles, Thailand. According to reports, there was a significant increase of Korea-developed games in the country during the months of March and April (even though some are older MMOs). Titles which launched or went into Closed Beta include Trickster Online, 3 Kingdom Warriors (the SEA English server just closed), iL Soulbringer, Giga Slave (North America server here), Iris Online and Divine Soul. Analysts expect more Korean games to flood into Thailand over the next few months. Personally, I still see Russia as the biggest market not fully tapped at this moment.
Finally, some personal stuff. Like I ranted previously, it is hard for me to seek new job opportunities in the local online gaming industry as there are only around 3-4 prominent players here. I am in one, never heard back from the other after going for an interview. One of my superiors asked me to consider switching industry and focus on media, journalism, PR etc as it is what I am studying, and I am seriously thinking about it.
After some research, it seems that going overseas to work is not that easy afterall, with many requirements which need to be met. Given that I will be graduating from university at the end of the year, I guess it is time to face reality and think about the bread and butter. If anyone within the gaming industry will like to trade contacts on LinkedIn, please email me here. So that’s all folks, have a good week ahead!
