South Korea is a mobile gaming haven — even for Western studios

South Korea is the fourth largest mobile game market in the world. More than half of South Korea’s population play games on their smartphones. They spent a total of $5.6 billion on mobile titles in 2018, according to market research firm Newzoo, which makes it a market all developers should enter.

But what is gaming culture like in South Korea? How has this influenced the kinds of games and game companies that have been formative to this culture — both in the past and now? And how does this help mobile companies to succeed? We’ve taken a look at the South Korean scene to let you into one of the world’s thriving game industry cultures.