Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney wants the game industry to lose its Hollywood envy

Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney spoke passionately about creativity and inspiration at our recent GamesBeat Summit 2017 event. In a fireside chat with me, Mahoney said he wants the game industry to lose its “Hollywood envy.”

He thinks games are the coolest medium in part because you can create your own story and your own ending that is unique from anybody else’s. That’s an advantage that interactive entertainment has over linear entertainment, but he sees game developers being too inspired by the word “cinematic,” as if there’s an assumption that Hollywood properties are better. Mahoney pointed out that Dungeon Fighter Online is more than a decade old, and it is more successful than ever, with $8.7 billion in revenue generated to date. By comparison, he notes that the Star Wars film franchise has generated only $7.5 billion at the box office (Yes, it’s not a perfect comparison, but it is a good point). Why should Tokyo-based Nexon be envious of Hollywood?