April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s Netmarble Games said on Aug. 24 that its mobile game “Lineage II: Revolution” had become the top-grossing app in Japan’s Apple App Store just 18 hours after its official launch in the country.

It marked the first time for a Korean-made mobile game to take the No. 1 spot in app revenue ranking in Japan’s App Store, marking a milestone for Korea’s mobile game business.

Netmarble released “Lineage II: Revolution,” a mobile role-playing game based on the storyline of NCSoft’s popular PC online game “Lineage,” in Japan on Aug. 23. On the same day, the app topped the most popular app lists on Google Play and the Apple App Store.

Netmarble, which has increased the number of its servers from 40 to 60, is planning additional server expansion to address high user traffic, it said. 

The Korean mobile game maker attributed the immediate success of its game in Japan to localization efforts, such as featuring the voices of famous Japanese voice actresses including Ayane Sakura and Yukari Tamura, as well as adopting a card-type design for the “monster codex.” 

In addition to Japan, “Lineage II: Revolution” continues to top mobile game ranking charts for the app stores of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. The game launched in 11 Asian countries in June. 

The mobile role-playing game is set for release in the US and Europe before the year’s end. The game’s launch in China, initially scheduled for the fourth quarter, remains uncertain.

Netmarble’s Chinese publishing partner Tencent Holdings applied for regulatory approval to service the mobile game in China months ago. However, Chinese authorities have yet to grant the company a service license.

By Sohn Ji-young/The Korea Herald (jys@heraldcorp.com)