[Digital Today reporter Lee Ho-jung (이호정)] A strong “classic” wave is sweeping the game industry, with companies bringing back older games rather than focusing on new releases. More new titles are coming out, but revenue and playtime are instead concentrating on existing games. Publishers are also moving faster to commercialise early versions of proven intellectual property (IP).

◆Even as new releases increase, revenue concentrates on older games

This trend is most evident on Steam, the world’s biggest PC game platform. Steam revenue in the first half of this year rose 14.5 percent to $11.1 billion from $9.7 billion a year earlier, marking a record for a half-year period, according to global market research firm Alinea Analytics. But the share of revenue from new releases launched in the same year fell to 21 percent, declining for a second straight year after 29 percent in 2024 and 27 percent in 2025. The market has grown, but the benefits of growth are more concentrated in previously released titles.

The phenomenon is tied to a sharp increase in new releases. Steam logged 21,394 new titles last year, about double the 11,223 in 2021 before the spread of generative AI. Easier access to game engines and distribution platforms, and the use of generative AI for coding, music and translation, has sped up production for small development teams.

The problem is that the growing number of new releases is not translating into actual use. Of 19,112 games released on Steam as of mid-December last year, 48.8 percent (9,327) had fewer than 10 user reviews, and 11.7 percent (2,229) had no reviews at all. New releases launched that year accounted for just 14 percent of total playtime in 2025.

South Korea’s PC cafe indicators show a similar pattern. As of Aug. 3, long-running games dominated the top ranks of PC cafe market share, including League of Legends, Valorant, Battlegrounds, FC Online, Sudden Attack, MapleStory and Overwatch, according to GameTrics. Lineage Classic ranked fifth with 6 percent. Most top-ranked titles were released more than 10 years ago.

One reason new games are finding it harder to win users is the time and burden required to learn them. Recent games have more elements users must understand, from the game world and characters to progression, equipment and currency systems, monetisation structures and season passes, and daily and weekly content.

By contrast, games users already played, or their early versions, require less time to become engaging because players already know the rules and what makes them fun. With more low-quality games produced quickly using AI, users are also increasingly checking reviews, concurrent player counts and update histories before choosing new releases.

◆Publishers respond with a risk-diversification strategy

User shifts are also changing how publishers allocate capital. Development costs have jumped from around $100 million to about $200 million to $300 million recently, yet success is not guaranteed. Publishers are shifting their calculus toward reviving early versions of proven IP to secure clearer demand, rather than investing in new titles.

That goal is supported by results. NC’s Lineage Classic, which began subscription-based service on Feb. 11, restored early-2000s graphics, combat, sound and interface. It posted cumulative revenue of 192.4 billion won in 90 days, driving NC’s performance in the first quarter this year.

Classic content has also succeeded on Nexon’s creator platform MapleStory World. MapleLand, which recreated the original game’s inconveniences as they were, drew 2.4 million cumulative users. MaplePlanet, which boosted convenience by raising experience gains and item drop rates, attracted 345,000 cumulative users within 2 weeks of an open beta launch in April.

Against this backdrop, publishers are responding by restoring early versions as they were or reviving games whose services had been discontinued.

After Lineage Classic, Riot Games released League of Legends Classic on July 30. Based on Season 3, it combines early content such as runes, masteries and champions with the convenience features of the current game. It supports 60 champions, including Twisted Fate, Warwick and Skarner, and offers classic skins that recreate past designs for free.

Nexon plans to launch Dungeon & Fighter Classic next year, recreating the game as it was in 2009. Smilegate formally released Grand Chase Classic on July 16, based on the 2003 original.

KartRider reached the same conclusion by a different route. After the service shutdown of KartRider: Drift, a sequel that stressed differentiation from the original, Nexon re-officialised Crazyracing KartRider on June 23, keeping the original name and controls intact.

This restoration strategy is also driven by changes in the consumer base. South Korea’s game usage rate fell to 50.2 percent last year, down 9.7 percentage points from a year earlier and declining for a third straight year, according to the Korea Creative Content Agency. Usage among people in their 20s fell by 15.3 percentage points, more than twice the 7.4 percentage-point drop among those in their 40s.

According to OneStore’s 2025 Game Usage Trends, people in their 30s ranked first in both the number of buyers and total spending, while those in their 40s had the highest spending per person. People in their 20s, by contrast, had many buyers but showed a strong tendency to use coupons and points. Industry officials say that as the revenue-generating cohort narrows to people in their 30s and 40s, long-running IP such as MapleStory, Lineage and KartRider, which they played during their school years, is drawing renewed attention.

That is why the expansion of classic games is seen as a calculated move targeting people in their 30s and 40s who actually open their wallets, rather than mere nostalgia marketing.

◆The key is balancing nostalgia and sustainability

It is also worth noting that the classic-game strategy carries a different kind of risk, even as it reduces development risk and marketing costs. Because it relies on nostalgia among those in their 30s and 40s who played the originals, it could be hard to expand the user base to the next generation that did not experience the originals unless the discovery of new IP is pursued in parallel. If multiple versions of the same IP are operated at the same time, the user base could be split or each game’s differentiation could weaken.

An industry official said, “Classic IP clearly has strengths in generating immediate revenue and securing stable users.” The official added, “But if companies rely only on that, competitiveness in new IP aimed at the next generation could instead weaken, so carrying both strategies together will be the next task for game companies.”