Com2US: Developing Mobile Games In Korea

Some folks from Com2us discuss the challenges and opportunities of developing games in the current mobile market

You can download the podcast here…
http://www.indiegamepod.com/podcasts/cc-com2us.mp3

Or listen to it here…

[wp_youtube]cYF_TNA7nPs[/wp_youtube]

Show Notes:
Interviewer: I’m here at Casual Connect, and with me today are two special guests. How about you introduce yourself?

Don: My name’s Don Lim from Com2uS USA, the largest mobile game company in Korea.

Jimmy: Hi, I’m Jimmy Choo. I’m in marketing and strategy for Com2uS.

Interviewer: So, you guys are doing mobile games for the iPhone. What game have you recently released?

Don: Well, we released about 12 games so far on the iPhone and the Android. We’ve been producing mobile games for more than 10 years in Korea. With the Apps Store opened up, we were one of the first to release a game by Apple.

Interviewer: Were you doing development while you were doing mobile games, without the SmartPhone, when you actually had normal phones?

Jimmy: Sorry, I didn’t hear that.

Interviewer: Do you guys remember how it was developing for non-iPhone? How did you like that compared to the iPhone?

Jimmy: There’s two aspects from that. One is the sales and marketing side, and one is the development side. The development side is there’s practically too many phones to cover and, of course, there’s [?] to cover as well, to cover all the big carriers and operators in the world. The fragmentation was too much.

And from the sales and marketing side, even if we’d done that, it was hard to get through the operators and actually get our games live on the users’ phones. So, comparing that to iPhone and Android devices and the ad market there, it’s outrageous. It’s completely different and it’s a lot more freedom and it’s a lot more fun.

Interviewer: So, now you’re having fun developing these games. You guys use Unity 3D for the games?

Don: We are using Unity 3D engine for all three games. Not all the games are 3D games. Some 3D games are Unity users, like 2D games. We don’t have a need to use that.

Interviewer: Can you talk about Home Run Batter, the original game? What inspired the idea, and how did it get started?

Jimmy: Well, actually there was a 3D game in the Korean market on the mobile devices before the iPhone and the Android. The game play was a real time online game. It was a bit faster in the U.S. or the countries in Europe. The idea was fun and quite a lot of people joined in to play, but it wasn’t enough. So, when the iPhone came out we thought this would really work. We just managed to get it out promptly.

So, the game design was there. It was very optimizing it, and on the iPhone was the key issue, and that’s what we did. So, we covered it with beautiful 3D graphics. Of course, we did use Unity 3D on that, too. And we added Western type 3D characters to it and used the gyro sensor and the [?] device so getting the most out of the device.

When it hit the market, just a few weeks before the All-Star Game in the States last year, it just took off from there.

Interviewer: What’s cool is it’s like a Home Run Derby and you’re competing against other people, just to hit home runs. So, it’s not necessarily a baseball game. It’s more of a quick Home Run Derby type.

Jimmy: Yes, it is. It’s sort of [?]. If it was a PS or a PS3 or an Xbox Live, playing a full baseball game in 3D graphics with everything, that would work. But, like, on an iPhone we thought something more casual and lighter would work better. So, that’s what it is. It’s a very casual game, and it’s all about hitting home runs and it’s the highlight of the game, too.

Interviewer: Would you say that that’s the favorite out of the 12 games that you guys have developed, or is there another game?

Jimmy: Up tol now, that’s our favorite. And we’re making some sequels. There’s another game called Chronicles of Inortia. The third game is coming out very soon. The second game was a hit. It was a big hit when it came out last year at Christmas. That’s another one.

Recently, Nine Innings 2011 which is a full baseball game, that came out. And with all the MLB PA players, all the MLB PA stats and portraits and that’s doing very well. It’s a very fun game, quite addictive, too.

Interviewer: Why release Home Run Batter 2? Why not just update the original Home Run Batter? I’ve talked to other mobile developers who are just like, hey, I’m just going to update the current game. Does it help to release a sequel on the iPhone?

Jimmy: It’s a big run for us now and the Home Run Batter 3D 2 is a bit different from Home Run Batter 3D 1. Of course, this is something our producer wants to talk about, and he wouldn’t want me talking about it. But, there’s a lot of added game features to it, and it’s something that we can’t work on the original version.

And, of course, with all the Facebook and Twittering things going on, we’re trying to add all that social network site into the game as well. So, it would be marinated. The users would really enjoy the social network site and the interactive game site, too. So, that’s what we’re trying to do with the new game.

Interviewer: Since you guys are based in Korea, how is the mobile usage there? It’s very different than the U.S. Can you talk about it? Can you just give the listeners here in the U.S. a glimpse into what’s happening? Is everyone just using their phone? Is anyone even using the PC in Korea? How’s that work?

Jimmy: No, in Korea everyone is using everything, really. So, they have a PC. They have a phone. Think of it this way. There are 10 million people in South Korea, a bit more than that, who would be regarded as a techie, a technology geek in the States.

Something very interesting when the iPhone came out was that that kind of ecosystem that Apple had was actually already there with Korean operators because they took 15 to 20 percent of the share which is even better than the Apple model. And they had more than 20 people in the carrier companies looking after the games and content for their phones.

So, it was a more mature market. It’s just that the devices are changing now. So, that’s taking place in Korea now, too. It will be very interesting to see how it develops.

Interviewer: And so, what’s next in store in terms of games that you can talk about from your studio, like any next games that you can talk about?

Don: The next game will be a very casual game, by the way. It’s geared to females. It’s called Chocolate Tycoon. It’s a tycoon game making chocolate for the customers.

Interviewer: Will there be any real time aspects or multi-player?

Don: No, it’s a single game. It’s more of a time management game.

Interviewer: That’s a good question. Are females actually using iPhone as much as males? In Japan, someone was saying that actually there aren’t as many women with iPhones because it’s mostly guys who bought iPhones. How is it in Korea?

Jimmy: Well, I guess males use more apps and content than females. But, if you see it from the other side, it’s just that there are so many applications in games for the male audience. Well, there aren’t that many for female use. We think there’s a big niche there.

The thing is female users, if they really like the content, they go deeper down. So, they really use the content deeply and, of course, are willing to pay for the content than the male audience. So, I guess there’s dual sides on that.

In Korea for mobile games, for puzzle games and casual games, the female audience, they consume a lot of those games. I think the proportion is kind of the same.

Interviewer: And where can people find out more about your games? What’s the site?

Don: Either come to global.com2us.com. It’s C-O-M, number 2, U-S. com or just tap into Com2uS on Facebook or Twitter. And we have our Twitter page and Facebook fan page.

Interviewer: Thank you very much.