Pass of Exile 2, which has risen even in the box office, and Kakao Games, which is in charge of domestic services, are also in full bloom
Dec 15, 2024
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As a result, Kakao Games' turnaround, which had been sluggish enough to hit its lowest price since its listing last month, can also be expected. In addition, the game industry is relatively free from the adverse effects of tariff hikes in the second Trump administration in January next year, the Chinese government is signaling a strong stimulus for economic recovery, and if the presidential election is held next year, political conditions at home and abroad will not be bad.
Reflecting this, Kakao Games' stock price rose 18.28% from the previous day on the 13th, rising back to the 20,000 won level (20,900 won) for the first time in five months since July 3rd. Kakao Games' operating profit was 2.8 billion won and 5.7 billion won in the second and third quarters of this year, respectively, down 89% and 80% year-on-year.
After listing on the KOSDAQ in September 2020, it has emerged as a beneficiary of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in November 2021, when 'Oddin: Valhalla Rising' was very popular, the highest price rose to 116,000 won, but on November 15, it fell to 15,000 won, suffering a recession. The market capitalization was once aimed at surpassing 10 trillion won, but it is currently only around 1 trillion won.
Since then, sales and operating profit have remained steady by releasing 'Ummusme Pretty Derby' and 'Age War', but since the transition to the COVID-19 pandemic, the stock price has also been showing a downward-sloping graph, continuing to decline year-on-year or quarter-on-quarter.
However, Kakao Games, which was in charge of domestic services, will also benefit significantly as the action RPG 'Pass of Exile 2', which was introduced as a global early access on the 7th, recorded 580,000 simultaneous users a day after its launch.
In addition, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is famous for being a big fan of the `Diablo' series, is drawing more attention as he praised 'Path of Exile 2' as the crystallization of similar genres 'Diablo' and 'Elden Ring'.
'Path of Exile 2' offers a new style of play that adds control fun to the action RPG to the hack-and-slash nature of its predecessor, consisting of 6 campaigns, 100 unique environments, 600 monsters and 100 bosses. Users can choose one of the 12 classes and foster them to suit their taste, and each class has three ex-classes, allowing them to meet a total of 36 ex-classes. In addition, a separate expansion pack will be provided continuously thereafter.
Kakao Games is already planning to continue its know-how accumulated by providing stable services in Korea with 'Pass of Exile' since 2019. In addition to PC and console cross-platform services, we have prepared customized services in Korea such as Kakao-only servers, Kakao PC room benefits, and video guides. In particular, in line with its release, we provided four easy-to-understand videos of the main contents of the game, 'class (occupation)', 'equipment', 'skillgem', and 'passive skills'.
A Kakao Games official said "'Path of Exile 2' is a tense action RPG that is different from 'Path of Exile', showing high retention, with more than 90% of users accessing the service the next day after the early access. We will do our best to lead to long-term live service like the previous one" he said.
bluesky@sportschosun.com
