With Overseas Sales Above 70%, Korean Game Makers Shift From G-Star to Global Shows

South Korea’s biggest game companies are taking their new releases abroad as international sales become a larger part of their businesses.

Nexon, NCSoft, Netmarble, Smilegate and NHN are scheduled to attend Tokyo Game Show 2026 in Chiba from Sept. 17 to 21. Other companies, including Krafton, NCSoft, Pearl Abyss and Kakao Games, presented upcoming titles and trailers at Gamescom 2026 in Cologne, which ended on Aug. 30.

The shift reflects a change in the industry’s sales structure. The five largest companies by revenue, Nexon, Krafton, NCSoft, Netmarble and Pearl Abyss, generated more than 70% of their average sales overseas in the first half of this year for the first time. The figures included the effect of new releases targeting North American and European markets.

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As the domestic market has reached saturation, concerns have spread across the industry for years that it is difficult to achieve meaningful results from participating in G-Star compared with the cost of developing new games for the event.

Over the past two or three years, Korean developers have increased production of PC and console games aimed at Western audiences. The industry has looked for new growth as users grew tired of the mobile massively multiplayer online role-playing games that dominated the market in the 2010s and revenue growth slowed.

That trend has intensified pressure on G-Star, South Korea’s largest game exhibition, which will hold its 22nd edition in Busan in November. Several major game companies are expected to stay away. The event’s main sponsor will also be an AI startup, Wrtn Technologies, marking the first time a game developer has not filled that role.

One industry official said companies had spent years questioning whether G-Star could deliver meaningful results compared with the cost of developing new titles for the event. Overseas shows targeting North America and Europe, the official said, often offer clearer returns in sales and profits, weakening G-Star’s competitiveness.

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Companies often achieve clearer results in sales and profits through game shows targeting North American and European markets, so G-Star’s competitiveness may have declined.