NCsoft: A Recap

[Admin]

I just want to take the opportunity to thank everyone again for participating in this forum, and for helping me get a better idea of what lies ahead for the creator of one of my main time commitments: NCsoft.

Despite the success that they have already achieved both domestically in Korea and internationally through their renowned game lineup of Lineage, Lineage II, City of Heroes and Guild Wars, to name a few, there remain hurdles for the company to overcome to continue on as a world-recognized brand of fine gaming products. Some of these hurdles include facing a changing gaming environment in terms of the types of games desired, adjusting to an increasingly global gaming market, and the need to become more socially responsible to address the stigmas associated with gaming. 

In terms of a changing game environment, NCsoft must adjust to the fact that casual games are close to surpassing MMORPG's as the game style of choice for online gamers. In order to meet this changing demand, NCsoft needs to leverage its existing playNC platform to include all of the company's game, and use their elite development team to curate games that have the possibility of keeping these casual gamers online longer, and potentially transitioning them to more commitment through an MMORPG. On top of this, the mobile game market is prone to a massive breakthrough sooner rather than later, and I think the company needs to jump on board before the train leaves the station for mobile gaming. In terms of globalization, significant cultural differences exist between the markets that they are already operating in (ex. USA and Japan), and this impacts how they churn out games for the masses. To combat this, I think it would make sense for the company to implement slightly different visual characteristics for the different worlds, in the form of "maps", or "quests" to account for differences in individualism. As well, the company should be looking to invest in making playNC a platform where even very mobile cultures like China and the US don't want to leave because it fills all of their needs in a variety of different forms. Lastly, social responsibility has come even further under the microscope, with cases of addiction, identity theft and illegal cash transactions coming more to the forefront and tarnishing the gaming community's reputation. The only way for NCsoft to respond to this, and show legitimate concern for ethical considerations, is to apply policies to address their corporate culture in ways that truly address the greater concerns in the market. By implementing maximum work times to reduce the dedication to "perfection", this will show that they are serious about curbing their own form of addiction, and this will send signals to the outside world that gamers really do care. 

Overall, NCsoft has a strong history for which they can stand on, and a very strong competitive position going forward to ensure they can address and solve the issues discussed in this forum. I hope so, because I speak for many like me who would be incredibly saddened if they were not able to continue in the same successful manner we are accustomed to. If they follow the suggestions discussed throughout the forum, they should be able to sustain their market share and brand recognition worldwide, and that will be a happy sight for all of us gamers.