이 기사는 2022년 03월 08일 08:07 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Some of the South Korean gaming firms known for their role-playing games could be affected by a range of sanctions against Russia, which is almost the only Western country where that gaming genre enjoys popularity.

As Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov last week urged "all game development companies and esports platforms" to temporarily halt business in Russia and remove Russian esports teams from international events.

Video games distributor Steam already stopped payments to Russian entities while evaluating other changes such as blocking Russian credit cards. EA Sports said last week that it would “remove the Russian national team and all Russian clubs” from some of its FIFA products, and ESL, a major esports organizer, also suspended Russian teams from competition.

These moves are expected to have impact on South Korean gaming firms as they have been targeting the Russian market to capitalize on its rapid growth. Russia’s gaming market grew by 15% in 2019 to 2.07 trillion won ($1.68 billion). While the market size is relatively small – the world’s 11th largest – it has seen double-digit growth each year.

In Russia, role-playing games are gaining popularity and the share of mobile games is relatively high. This contrasts with other Western countries where console games are much more popular. That is the reason why South Korean gaming firms have used Russia as a test bed for overseas markets.

Among other companies, Krafton and Smilegate are expected to be most directly affected by the video game world cutting off Russia.

Krafton started distributing its massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) hit, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, via Steam earlier this year. Revenue from North America and Europe represented about 4% of the company’s total revenue in the July-September quarter last year.

“At the moment, it is difficult to accurately measure the impact of the Ukraine crisis on the company’s revenue as results are not reported on a daily basis,” an official at Krafton said.

Smilegate’s MMORPG title, Lost Ark, is a big hit in Russia. The game’s director said last December that over 10 million accounts were achieved in South Korea, Japan and Russia alone, which was largely thanks to an increase in Russian daily users.

Additionally, foreign currency transaction losses due to the plummeting ruble could hurt revenues. The Russian currency reached a record low of 118 per dollar last week from around 80 per dollar before the invasion.

“We don’t have plans to hedge foreign exchange risks,” an official at Smilegate said.

The suspension of Russian teams from international esports competitions could also have impact on the marketing strategy of South Korean gaming firms as they have used such events to attract interest in their games. Russia won PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Nations Cup in 2019, defeating South Korea. (Reporting by Won-ji Hwang)