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David and Goliath Fight Began in Online Game Industry 2007/09/04 By Jin-Ho Lee The David and Goliath fight will begin this fall among online game makers. According to sources on September 3rd, large game makers such as NCSoft, Wemade, Webzen, and HanbitSoft will launch much expected game titles next month, while Nflavor, Ndoors, NineWheels, and other small game companies also launch their next titles. The game industry is closely watching the move, as it is unprecedented for small game makers to launch new products at the same time with larger companies. The industry sees that such aggressive move of small game makers is a sign of confidence in their games, helped by changes in the game market including the increasing number of game users, stable market base, and diversified demand of users. Tae-gon Kim, Development Director of Ndoors, said, “We hadn’t produced any hit games before. But now things have changed, and quality of games matters more than reckless give-away marketing. Movie and game are different in that the former is to enjoy only once, while the latter is to enjoy over and over again.” Ignis Lore (IL), the 3rd project of Nflovor(CEO: Seung-hyun Park) is getting attention as MORPG, which limits the number of users to a few tens of people. Atlantica which has been under development for more than 3 years by Ndoors(CEO: Sung-won Cho) is highly recognized for competitiveness by experts. Ninewheels is also expected to join the move later this year with Flyingpan, a new flying racing game. Gongbak of Ntreev Soft, Aironauts of JC Entertaiment, and Astro Ranger of Biscuit Soft are also newly rolled out targeting the market for the second half of this year. The small-scale developers say, “The key for this winter season is how well received our unique and differentiated games will be in the market.” Se-woong Kim, Executive Director of Redduck said, “In the past, we avoided releasing new products at the same time with major developers every time. But now the market has matured in terms of quality and contents, and user awareness has changed as well.” The most intense competition ever is expected this month, with new games to be released including Chang Chun by WeMade Entertainment, Huxley by Webzen, Hellgate:London by Hanbitsoft, and Aion by NCSoft. Jin-Ho Lee