[Shugun Season Check Point for Ants]
Shares of game companies such as Wemade and Com2uS Holdings taking up the P2E game challenge rose sharply
Existing powerhouses such as Netmarble and NCsoft are sluggish
Mir 4 global image [Photo Wemade]
Ahead of the shareholders meeting season, the game sector, which had a high share price increase in 2021, is drawing attention again. In particular, the progress of mid-sized game companies stood out last year. While large game companies were hesitant about new businesses such as blockchain, mid-sized game companies quickly challenged the market.
If you look at the share price trend of game companies from March 12, 2021 to March 13, 2022, the progress of Wemade, Wemade Max, and Com2uS Holdings stands out. The share price of WeMade Max, which was only 3,470 won, soared 594.52% to 24,100 won in one year, and the share price of Wemade, which was at 20,000 won, rose 397.65% to 103,700 won during the same period. Com2uS Holdings stock price also rose sharply. The stock price jumped 264.9% from 41,600 won to 151,800 won.
The sharp rise in the stock prices of the game companies is largely due to the influence of ‘P2E games’ using blockchain. P2E is an abbreviation of Play to Earn, which means a so-called ‘money-making game’. Recently, along with the cryptocurrency craze around the world, the P2E game craze is blowing. It is known that mid-tier game companies Wemade and Com2uS Holdings have been preparing a lot for the release of P2E games, centering on CEO Jang Hyun-guk and CEO Yong-guk Lee, respectively.
Pearl Abyss and Kakao Games also rose sharply. The share price of Pearl Abyss surged 63.57% from 62,220 won on March 12, 2021 to 98,500 won as of March 13, 2022. During the same period, the share price of Kakao Games rose 48.12% from 55,500 won to 74,800 won.
While the stock prices of mid-sized game companies rose sharply, the stock prices of existing game industry powerhouses did not exert any strength during the same period. Netmarbles share price fell 11.84% to 108,000 won in one year from 122,500 won, and NCsofts stock price plunged 51.66% from 935,000 won to 452,000 won. In particular, in the case of NC, the stock price has virtually halved. Another existing strong player, Nexon, was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2011, so direct comparison is difficult.
Lineage W image [Photo NCsoft]
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CEO Kim Taek-jin “We will do our best to change”
Netmarbles delay in the release of new games due to Corona 19 acted as a negative factor, and although NC released several new games such as Blade & Soul 2, Trickster M, and Lineage W, users turned away due to excessive charging policy This worked as a bad thing.
In response, CEO Kim Taek-jin said in a message to executives and employees, “The external reaction surrounding NC is cold. We will do our best to change the shape that customers expect.”
Since then, NC has been working hard to win back the hearts of users who have turned away from Lineage, which can be said to be a symbol of excessive charging, and show off a large number of new IPs. In a recent teaser video, 5 new IP types under development, including Project E, Project R, Project M, and BSS TL, were introduced. NCs new IPs include not only MMORPGs, but also various genres such as interactive movies, action battle royales, and collectible RPGs.
NC PDMO Choi Moon-young said, “We plan to release various video content related to the new IP from March.
