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South Korea Mobile Gaming Market Report Overview
The South Korea mobile gaming market reached a value of USD 12.53 Billion at 2025 and is projected to expand at a CAGR of around 7.10% during the forecast period of 2026-2035. Supported by South Korea's position as the world's fourth-largest mobile gaming market, the rapid expansion of webtoon and K-pop IP into high-production mobile titles, the growing monetisation depth of live-service RPGs through in-app purchases, and the accelerating adoption of casual gaming formats expanding the advertising revenue stream, the market is expected to reach USD 24.88 Billion by 2035.
Key Market Trends and Insights
- The advertising segment is expected to record a CAGR of 8.2% over the forecast period, driven by casual and hyper-casual mobile game formats that depend on in-game advertising revenue.
- The in-app purchases category is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 7.0% over the forecast period, sustained by live-service RPG mechanics, seasonal events, and battle pass monetisation across South Korea.
- Android is anticipated to register a CAGR of 7.1% during the forecast period, underpinned by dominant device share, broad income-level accessibility, and integration with Korean publishers' mobile game distribution networks.
Market Size and Forecast
- Market Size (2025): USD 12.53 Billion
- Projected Market Size (2035): USD 24.88 Billion
- Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) (2026-2035): 7.10%
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Key Trends and Recent Developments
The South Korea mobile gaming market is entering a competitive phase defined by IP-driven launches, live-service monetisation deepening, and aggressive global publishing strategies from leading Korean studios. Publishers including Netmarble, NCSoft, KRAFTON, and NEXON are simultaneously developing new original IP and adapting proven webtoon, anime, and console franchises into mobile-first experiences designed for high engagement and recurring revenue. The intersection of South Korea's gaming culture, advanced 5G infrastructure, and deepening consumer willingness to spend on in-app content continues to sustain the market's strong growth trajectory.
NCSoft launched Aion 2 for PC and mobile in South Korea and Taiwan on November 19, 2025, marking the franchise's first sequel in over a decade. Built in Unreal Engine 5, the MMORPG targets a global release in 2026.
Netmarble launched Seven Knights Re: Birth in South Korea in May 2025, generating approximately USD 80 million in revenue within 50 days. The title's strong performance underscored the enduring strength of in-app purchase-driven live-service RPGs across the South Korea mobile gaming market.
KRAFTON announced in March 2025 that it invested in 10 overseas game development studios in 2024, seeking new franchise IP beyond PUBG. The investments reflect the company's strategy of scaling mobile portfolio depth through external studio partnerships and IP diversification.
Netmarble's Solo Leveling: Arise, launched globally in May 2024 based on a webtoon with 15.2 billion views, reached 50 million global users in five months and generated USD 45 million in revenue, demonstrating the commercial strength of webtoon-to-mobile IP adaptation.
In-App Purchases: Dominant Revenue Engine of Live-Service RPG Design
In-app purchases dominate the South Korea mobile gaming market, fuelled by live-service RPG design that rewards sustained player investment. Korean studios prioritise long-term engagement mechanics over one-time transactions, using battle passes, seasonal events, and gacha-style systems to sustain multi-year revenue streams per title.
Webtoon and K-Pop IP Fuelling Game Launches and Player Acquisition
Webtoon and K-pop IP are accelerating game launches and lowering user acquisition costs across the South Korea mobile gaming market. Netmarble's Solo Leveling: Arise, built from a webtoon with 15.2 billion views, reached 50 million global users in five months.
Android Platform: Preferred Launch Environment for Korean Publishers
Android leads the South Korea mobile gaming market through dominant device share and broad income-level accessibility. Its open ecosystem supports direct APK distribution and flexible promotional mechanics, making it the preferred launch and performance-testing platform for Korean mobile game publishers.
Market Scale: South Korea as the World's Fourth-Largest Mobile Gaming Market
South Korea ranks as the world's fourth-largest mobile gaming market, with over 70% of Koreans playing mobile games. This penetration depth combined with rising disposable incomes creates strong monetisation intensity per active user across the South Korea mobile gaming market.
Advertising: Fastest-Growing Segment Expanding Beyond Core RPG Demographics
Advertising is the fastest-growing monetisation segment in the South Korea mobile gaming market, fuelled by casual and hyper-casual game formats that rely on ad revenue. This diversification helps publishers expand revenue beyond in-app purchases and reach a broader player base.
South Korea Mobile Gaming Industry Segmentation
The report of Expert Market Research's titled "South Korea Mobile Gaming Market Report and Forecast 2026-2035" offers a detailed analysis of the market based on the following segments:
Market Breakup by Monetisation Type
- In-app Purchases
- Paid Apps
- Advertising
Key Insight: In-app purchases dominate the South Korea mobile gaming market by monetisation type, anchored by the country's deep live-service RPG culture where game studios design sustained long-term engagement loops with recurring spending events, battle pass progression, and limited-time content. Korean studios including Netmarble, NCSoft, and NEXON prioritise engagement economics over one-time transactions, calibrating in-app purchase cadence to maximise lifetime value per player across titles with multi-year operational lifespans. Advertising is the fastest-growing monetisation segment, driven by the rapid proliferation of casual and hyper-casual game formats that build large user bases monetised through impressions rather than direct player spending. Paid apps remain a niche monetisation model confined to premium game releases with defined single-player experiences or specific creator-led titles.
Market Breakup by Platform
- Android
- iOS
- Others
Key Insight: Android leads the South Korea mobile gaming market by platform, driven by its dominant device share across South Korea's broad consumer base and its open ecosystem that enables flexible promotional mechanisms, direct APK distribution, and faster compliance testing for game publishers. Korean publishers typically launch simultaneously on Android and iOS, but Android's higher user volume makes it the primary platform for initial market validation and live-event performance benchmarking. iOS grows at a faster rate than Android due to its higher average revenue per user, with iOS users demonstrating greater spending intensity within in-app purchase mechanics and premium content purchases, making it the more commercially valuable per-user platform despite lower absolute volume. Other platforms, including emerging cloud gaming environments and hybrid mobile-PC crossover products, remain marginal but signal longer-term convergence trends in the market.
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South Korea Mobile Gaming Market Share
By Monetisation Type, in-app purchases dominate the market due to deep live-service RPG engagement mechanics, high player spending intensity, and the cultural norm of sustained in-game investment among South Korean mobile gamers
In-app purchases command the dominant share of the South Korea mobile gaming market by monetisation type, reflecting the deeply ingrained live-service design philosophy of South Korean game studios, which build mobile titles intended to operate and monetise for multiple years through recurring player engagement cycles. RPG titles from Netmarble, NCSoft, and NEXON feature layered in-app purchase systems including character gacha, equipment enhancement, cosmetic shops, and battle pass subscriptions that create multiple simultaneous spending triggers per player session. Netmarble's Seven Knights Re: Birth generating approximately USD 80 million in its first 50 days in the South Korean market illustrates the effectiveness of this deeply embedded in-app purchase culture when applied to franchise IP with established player loyalty.
Advertising is the fastest-growing monetisation type in the South Korea mobile gaming market, expanding as casual and hyper-casual titles build large, broad demographic user bases that are monetised through ad impressions rather than direct player spending. The casual segment attracts players who would not engage with RPG in-app purchase systems, effectively expanding the total monetisable gaming audience in South Korea. Paid apps maintain a small but stable niche within the market, primarily serving premium game releases with high production value and defined single-player or cooperative narrative content that warrants a direct upfront purchase price.
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By Platform, Android accounts for the dominant share of the market due to its broad device penetration across South Korea's diverse income levels and its open ecosystem that supports flexible game launch and distribution strategies
Android holds the dominant platform share in the South Korea mobile gaming market, driven by its higher absolute device penetration across South Korea's consumer population, which spans a broader income and age demographic than Apple's iOS user base. Korean publishers leverage Android's open ecosystem to deploy direct APK download options alongside Play Store releases, enabling pre-launch access events, server load testing, and regional soft launches that provide market validation data before global rollout. KRAFTON, Netmarble, and NCSoft all launch flagship mobile titles on Android as the primary volume platform, using Android performance data to calibrate engagement systems and in-app purchase pricing before finalising their iOS release configurations.
iOS is the fastest-growing platform in the South Korea mobile gaming market, driven by higher average revenue per user among iOS players who demonstrate stronger in-app purchase conversion rates and higher spending per session across South Korean gaming apps. Apple's iOS ecosystem trust, App Store editorial curation, and the purchasing behaviour of South Korean iPhone users make iOS the superior platform for premium monetisation optimisation. NCSoft's Aion 2, designed for both PC and mobile with simultaneous cross-platform compatibility, exemplifies the industry trend toward iOS-inclusive launch strategies that capture the high-value mobile user segment while maintaining Android as the volume foundation.
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Competitive Landscape
The South Korea mobile gaming market features a moderately concentrated competitive structure dominated by a small group of large-scale publishers with the production budgets, IP portfolios, and live-service operational capabilities to sustain multiple flagship mobile titles simultaneously. Netmarble, NCSoft, KRAFTON, NEXON, Pearl Abyss, and Kakao Games collectively account for the majority of market revenue, competing through IP exclusivity, production quality differentiation, and live operations execution. The barriers to long-term market leadership are high, requiring continuous pipeline investment, global IP licensing relationships, and the capability to operate large-scale seasonal live events that retain player engagement across multi-year title lifespans.
Competitive dynamics are increasingly shaped by IP investment strategy, global publishing ambition, and the integration of AI tools into both game development and live operations. Publishers are diversifying away from domestic market dependency by adapting proven South Korean IP for international audiences, partnering with global IP holders, and establishing overseas publishing operations. The rise of webtoon-to-mobile conversions as a low-cost, high-reach user acquisition channel has become a defining competitive differentiator, with studios that secure early webtoon IP licensing deals gaining structural advantages in launch marketing and community pre-building.
Com2uS Corporation
Com2uS Corporation, founded in 1998 and headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, is a leading Korean mobile game developer best known globally for the Summoners War franchise, which has accumulated over 160 million downloads worldwide. The company applies an IP diversification strategy, targeting overseas markets early with localised monetisation and seasonal events, while internally incubating new IPs to reduce franchise concentration risk. Com2uS's live-service expertise and established global distribution infrastructure position it as a sustained operator of high-performing mobile RPG titles across both domestic and international markets.
KRAFTON, Inc.
KRAFTON, Inc., founded in 2018 and headquartered in Seongnam, South Korea, is known globally for scaling the PUBG franchise across PC, console, and mobile platforms. The company invested in 10 overseas game development studios in 2024 to build new franchise IP and diversify beyond PUBG, while exploring AI integration into gameplay and production workflows. KRAFTON's mobile strategy targets competitive and social engagement formats, emphasising core gameplay retention and global publishing partnerships to sustain its growth beyond a single flagship title.
Netmarble Corp
Netmarble Corp, established in 2000 and headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, specialises in high-production mobile RPGs built on popular webtoon, film, and global entertainment IP. The company's Solo Leveling: Arise reached 50 million users in five months after its May 2024 global launch, demonstrating its IP adaptation capability, while Seven Knights Re: Birth generated approximately USD 80 million in its first 50 days in Korea. Netmarble's 2026 pipeline includes Game of Thrones: Kingsroad based on the HBO IP, reflecting its continued strategy of securing global entertainment franchises for mobile conversion.
NCSoft Corporation
NCSoft Corporation, founded in 1997 and headquartered in Seongnam, South Korea, created the Korean MMORPG industry through the Lineage franchise and has a global legacy spanning Blade and Soul, Guild Wars, and Aion. In November 2025, NCSoft launched Aion 2 for PC and mobile in South Korea and Taiwan, its most significant franchise sequel in over a decade. The company is pursuing a full-scale global offensive in 2026, with Aion 2's global release alongside Limit Zero Breakers, Time Takers, and Cinder City targeting international mobile gaming audiences.
Other key players in the market are NEXON Co. Ltd, Pearl Abyss Corp., Kakao Games Corp., Webzen Co. Ltd., NHN Co. Ltd., Actozsoft Co. Ltd, and Others.
*Please note that this is only a partial list; the complete list of key players is available in the full report. Additionally, the list of key players can be customized to better suit your needs.*
Key findings from the South Korea Mobile Gaming Market Report
- Comprehensive quantitative and qualitative analysis of the South Korea mobile gaming market with historical and forecast data spanning 2019 to 2035.
- Detailed segmentation by monetisation type (in-app purchases, paid apps, advertising) and by platform (Android, iOS, others), with demand and revenue trend analysis across each sub-segment.
- In-depth competitive landscape profiling Com2uS Corporation, KRAFTON Inc., Netmarble Corp, NCSoft Corporation, NEXON Co. Ltd, Pearl Abyss Corp., Kakao Games Corp., Webzen, NHN Co. Ltd., and Actozsoft Co. Ltd.
- Assessment of demand drivers including South Korea's world-fourth-ranked mobile gaming market position, live-service RPG monetisation depth, webtoon and K-pop IP adaptation momentum, and 5G infrastructure enabling high-fidelity mobile experiences.
- Analysis of the advertising monetisation growth trajectory driven by casual and hyper-casual gaming expansion, competitive dynamics between Android and iOS platforms, and strategic global publishing moves by leading Korean studios.
- Intelligence on major IP-driven game launches, overseas studio investment strategies, and franchise expansion plans from KRAFTON, Netmarble, NCSoft, and NEXON targeting both domestic retention and global audience growth.
Why choose Expert Market Research?
- Game publishers, technology investors, and global entertainment companies rely on our reports for precise, evidence-based market intelligence that supports confident strategic and commercial decisions.
- Research is developed by specialist analysts who track real market events, platform shifts, and competitive moves to ensure every insight reflects current industry reality rather than outdated assumptions.
- Actionable intelligence supports game launch planning, market entry strategy, IP licensing evaluation, platform distribution analysis, and competitive positioning across the mobile gaming landscape.
- All reports are fully customisable, allowing clients to adjust segment focus, competitive coverage, and analytical depth to precisely match their specific strategic, creative, or investment objectives.
Call to action
Stay ahead in the South Korea mobile gaming market 2026 with our comprehensive research report. From in-app purchase monetisation depth and webtoon IP adaptation dynamics to platform competition between Android and iOS, live-service RPG evolution, and the global publishing ambitions of KRAFTON, Netmarble, NCSoft, and NEXON, this report delivers the market clarity you need. Whether you are entering the South Korean market, evaluating a publishing partnership, or assessing IP investment opportunities, download your free sample today.
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*While we strive to always give you current and accurate information, the numbers depicted on the website are indicative and may differ from the actual numbers in the main report. At Expert Market Research, we aim to bring you the latest insights and trends in the market. Using our analyses and forecasts, stakeholders can understand the market dynamics, navigate challenges, and capitalize on opportunities to make data-driven strategic decisions.*
Key Questions Answered in the Report
In 2025, the market reached an approximate value of USD 12.53 Billion.
The market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.10% between 2026 and 2035.
The market is estimated to witness a healthy growth in the forecast period of 2026-2035 to reach USD 24.88 Billion by 2035.
Stakeholders are investing in IP adaptation, strengthening live operations, partnering with creators, expanding overseas publishing, and optimizing analytics to improve retention, compliance, and predictable revenues across competitive mobile ecosystems locally.
The will and capability to spend on one’s hobbies due to rising disposable income and the growth of online gaming communities are the key trends of the mobile gaming market in South Korea.
The leading distribution channels in the market are Android and iOS.
The key players in the market include Com2uS Corporation, KRAFTON, Inc., Netmarble Corp, NCSoft Corporation, NEXON Co., Ltd, Pearl Abyss Corp., Kakao Games Corp., Webzen Co., Ltd., NHN Co., Ltd., and Actozsoft Co., Ltd., among others.
Rising development costs, strict monetization regulation, talent competition, global marketing spend, and fast-changing player preferences challenge Korean publishers as they balance innovation speed, compliance, and sustainable live-service operations long-term growth.
Report Summary
Explore our key highlights of the report and gain a concise overview of key findings, trends, and actionable insights that will empower your strategic decisions.
| REPORT FEATURES | DETAILS |
| Base Year | 2025 |
| Historical Period | 2019-2025 |
| Forecast Period | 2026-2035 |
| Scope of the Report |
Historical and Forecast Trends, Industry Drivers and Constraints, Historical and Forecast Market Analysis by Segment:
|
| Breakup by Monetisation Type |
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| Breakup by Platform |
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| Market Dynamics |
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| Competitive Landscape |
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| Companies Covered |
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