South Korean game companies have changed their formula for going global. They used to take games that had proved their chances of success in the domestic market and then present them overseas. Now they are targeting global PC and console markets from the development stage and reflecting overseas user reactions in the game’s completeness and launch strategy.

Gamescom 2026 in Cologne, Germany, is seen as showing that shift. Krafton and NCSoft are expanding new-title genres to include shooters, action RPGs, multiplayer battles and co-op adventures rather than relying only on their core intellectual property. Kakao Games and Com2uS Holdings also demonstrated games under development locally to gauge reactions.

Gamescom’s growing global influence also underpins the strategy shift. This year’s event drew more than 1,600 companies from 67 countries, with overseas exhibitors accounting for 70 percent. Total exhibition space was 233,000 square metres, and the available space was fully booked for the first time.

Beyond MMORPGs to shooting, action and co-op, genres are changing

Krafton shows the clearest change. At the Opening Night Live eve event ahead of Gamescom’s opening, it unveiled five new titles: PUBG: Deadnet, NO LAW, Project Zeta, Ttare: Unbound and Age Twister. The lineup aims both to expand the universe of its flagship PUBG: Battlegrounds and to discover new IP.

Deadnet is a new PUBG IP title that adds roguelite elements. NO LAW is an open-world FPS RPG, and Project Zeta is a tactical battle game. Along with Ttare: Unbound, an action RPG, and Age Twister, a co-op adventure, it is a portfolio strategy that targets various user groups rather than repeating a single genre.

Krafton CEO Changhan Kim (김창한) said at Gamescom, "We have transitioned our new-title challenges with different genres and personalities into the execution stage." He added, "Based on our new-title pipeline and production leadership, we will continue to create franchise IP that can sustain long-term growth beyond genres and content."

NCSoft is following the same flow. It unveiled the team-based survival FPS Like or Die and Cinder City, as well as the MMORPG Aion 2, at Opening Night Live. Like or Die was first shown to global users through Gamescom while its official release date is not set.

Cinder City conducted a pre-alpha playtest for U.S. users from Aug. 14 to 16 to check reactions before a domestic launch. At this Gamescom, it also released a prequel cinematic video set in a dystopian Seoul.

Aion 2, meanwhile, was first launched last year in South Korea and Taiwan, then expands service to North America, South America, Europe and Asia on Oct. 5 through Steam and Purple. That means the old approach of going overseas after proving success in Korea and the approach of checking overseas reactions from the development stage, as with Cinder City and Like or Die, coexist within one company.

Nexon also set up a hands-on zone for Arc Raiders from its Swedish subsidiary Embark Studios. Nexon Korea co-CEO Jeonguk Kim (김정욱) said, "The results that Korean games, including Arc Raiders, are showing in the global market demonstrate that K-games have now moved into a position of creating trends."

From new-title showcase to development and validation stage

How companies use Gamescom is also changing. Beyond unveiling completed new titles, it is increasingly serving as a validation stage where firms check reactions to games in development and reflect them in strategy.

A representative example is God Save Birmingham from Kakao Games subsidiary Ocean Drive Studio. After its first reveal at Gamescom 2024, it has participated for three consecutive years through this year. It plans to run a co-op mode core group test for pre-alpha and alpha test participants and then expand to a Steam beta. It will also take part in PAX West in Seattle in September, using multiple overseas game shows to check global reactions.

Com2uS Holdings also plans to improve quality by submitting its PC and console new title, Lone Chef, to the Korea joint pavilion and receiving feedback from global users and industry officials.

Game company executives also see Gamescom as a venue for market validation. Smilegate CEO Joonho Sung (성준호) said, "It will be a good opportunity to directly check various new titles and users' reactions to them, and also to prepare for our company's global launches scheduled from next year."

As the timing of overseas expansion moves forward from "after launch" to "during development," more companies are checking overseas user reactions from the early stages rather than focusing on domestic performance.

As Gamescom grows, G-Star is asked to take on a new role

As Gamescom gains weight, debate has also emerged over the role of South Korea’s largest game show, G-Star.

At this Gamescom, Nexon co-CEOs Daehyun Kang and Jeonguk Kim, Krafton CEO Changhan Kim, and Smilegate CEO Joonho Sung visited the site. South Korea’s National Assembly also sent an official delegation for the first time.

At the event, voices also called for redefining G-Star’s identity amid a phenomenon in which major game companies put more weight on overseas game shows such as Gamescom and the Tokyo Game Show than on G-Star.

Democratic Party lawmaker Seungrae Cho (조승래) said an environment is also needed in which overseas game companies can come to find Korean users, adding, "More work is needed to refine G-Star's own values and identity." People Power Party lawmaker Yeonwook Jeong (정연욱) also stressed the need to raise G-Star’s stature so that Korean users can serve as a testbed for global games.

It is hard to conclude that this weakens the competitiveness of domestic game shows. Still, as Korean game companies target global PC and console users from the development stage, the role of overseas events such as Gamescom is growing. Gamescom can handle new-title announcements, user tests, and publishing and business consultations at once, while G-Star’s strength is its connection with domestic users. The difference in their roles is becoming clearer.

An industry official said, "Korean game companies are increasingly moving to check overseas user reactions from the early development stage with the global market as the goal." The official added, "As Gamescom’s role expands, G-Star also needs to consider a differentiated role that goes beyond its connection with domestic users and moves toward attracting global game companies and new titles."