Gree Korea: the who and what of this Japanese brand in Korea

Update 29-09-2014: We previously wrote that Yuta Maeda was CEO of Gree Korea. He is actually a Gree board member who oversees the company’s game business in Asia (excluding Japan). The article has been rectified to reflect this.

Although Gree has recently been dabbling in industries outside of gaming, it is still going strong there. We sat down with Yuta Maeda, a Gree board member who oversees the company’s game business in Asia outside of Japan, to find out more about how the company’s Korea studio was doing.

Maeda, who is also head of Gree subsidiary Pokelabo, shared that Gree Korea has two big missions. One of these is to create big hits in Korea, while the other is to constantly improve on how Unity is used in games. Gree Korea also functions as a publisher, bringing its Japanese counterpart’s games to Korea.

Gaming trends in Korea have always evolved from what’s hot on the online PC platform, and the smartphone market is no different. Maeda shared that action-RPG and MMORPG mobile games are very popular, a sentiment echoed during several panels and talks we sat in at Tokyo Game Show.

(See: G-Star lineup taking shape as Sony, Unity join local exhibitors)

However, this has not always been the case. According to Maeda, mobile gaming in Korea was focused on casual games, such as those found on the Kakao platform, just one year ago. It’s only now that the trend has shifted towards more midcore games, with graphics mimicking what users see in PC online games. As a result of that, Gree Korea has played along, producing the games Lost in Stars and Abria.

Even with the market saturated with similar games from Gamevil such as Kritika and Legend of Master, Gree Korea doesn’t have problems setting itself apart from the rest. Maeda shared that the studio’s strength is in creating games very quickly. Gree Korea developed Abria in a development timeframe of just ten months, while other companies need maybe two to three years for a similar title.

This is possible because of the studio’s second mission, mentioned above. Gree Korea is dedicated to improving how Unity is used in games, and has developed its own MMORPG engine for smartphones as a result. This same engine was used for Abria’s development.

(See: The best of Asian mobile gaming: September 5 to September 12)

Although Gree Korea is focused on developing games and on publishing into the Korean market, it’s not forgetting about the rest of the world. The trends Maeda mentioned up above are applicable throughout the world, and Gree Korea’s Lost in Stars is planned for a Japanese launch next month. Following that, it will hit the English-speaking market. Abria already has an English version in the works, and that’s expected to launch in a couple of months.

Gree Korea is definitely not the bigwig that its Japanese counterpart is, with just 50 staff in its humble studio. Yet it stands strong on its own, given the quality of the games it has produced, and its importance as a Korean publisher. We’re looking forward to seeing and learning more from Gree Korea going forward, especially with that MMORPG engine!