Massive Support for Game Industry

Government to inject 350 bln won to make Korea a top-three game country

Minister Yu In-chon of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said on Dec. 3 that the government will invest 350 billion won to make Korea one of the three strongest game countries in the world by 2012.
Minister Yu announced the plan at the Game Industry Promotion 2nd Year Mid-and Long-Term Development Plan Forum held at a restaurant with a game theme in downtown Seoul. Calling the plan the second revolution for the development of the game industry, Minister Yu said the government wants to boost the position of the game industry and showcase the future vision of the industry through the plan, the second development strategy aimed at leading the world game industry as Korea revolutionized the world game industry during the early part of 2000.
The plan included seven main strategies and 60 tasks to make Korea one of the three most advanced countries in the game industry by 2012 with 350 billion won to be plowed into the industry.
The seven strategies include making a strategic entrance into the global game market; building a base for next-generation games; securing futuristic type technologies led by creative manpower; the creation of game culture value; making an advanced distribution environment; leading e-Sports in the world; and systematizing policies and systems for a fusion environment.
The government will pour the funds into the development of another 20 core tasks and 40 general tasks so that the game market will grow to 10 trillion won and game exports will reach $3.6 billion by 2012.
The government plan is mainly to foster the development of functional games, spur e-Sports, foster high-level technology manpower, set up a large game fund and support game exports by investing in the areas considered weak such as R&D investment, shortages in diversity in genres and platforms, and a shortfall in means of support for the industry to advance into the world game market, areas that have been considered the weakest in the game industry.
The plan also calls for helping 300 game companies to grow at an expense of 70 billion won in funding to make a global game hub as part of an effort to dominate the future game market in the world. A major purpose of the plan is to help develop the capacities of independent game development studios at a cost of 70 billion won so that they will succeed on their own and be able to export some 250 billion won worth of games.
The plan also aims at training some 1,000 professors and more than 2,000 expert manpower at the end of the plan period.
The plan also calls for an investment of 50 billion won in R&D for technology to put Korea on the same level in game industry development as the United States and Japan in terms of leading technologies for games by securing core futuristic game technologies and technologies for a network base and platforms for the fusion of broadcasting and communication. The plan also is to provide support for training manpower required by game companies.
The government will also take action to create a fund totaling some 200 billion won by 2012 to improve the investment climate for the game industry. The government will hold investor sessions with game companies to set up the fund by luring private sector investors. The government will also set up an arcade complex aimed at reviving the arcade game industry, which slumped following the demise of "Sea Story" games, with a projected investment of some 37.5 billion won. The government will see that some 20 game-themed entertainment spots will be created for the revival of the arcade game industry. The government also has been considering the introduction of redemption game equipment to set up family pastime spaces like Japan's Joyplus and game works in the United States with family game themes. At the same time, they will be a test-bed for the domestic game industry to make advancements into the global arcade game market.
The ministry will also work on popularizing e-Sports by setting up a committee for e-Sports to be an official sports genre and making it popular among the public by 2010. The government is to invest 45 billion won to build an exclusive facility for the sport to be able to provide broadcasts and allow the public to watch and experience the sports. The government will also push projects to expand the cultural value of e-Sports as the social awareness for the sport will help the growth of the game industry. The government will make 2009 the initial year for game literacy and expand the public awareness of the games by globalizing its standards to clean up various side effects of the game. The government will develop customized treatment programs for game addiction and distribute them in a bid to boost the value of e-sports as part of the game culture.
For the globalization of game content category classification, the government will systematize new platforms so that they can be accepted flexibly. The government will build an online one-stop system that can raise the possibility for estimation to the extent that the category classification can be used as a foundation for a sound game culture.
The government will also see that laws on games are designed to boost the growth of the game industry not only for regulatory purposes through the revision reflecting all the changes in the industry, including those to be made in the future.
Minister Yu said the government will do all it can to make the plan a great success so that Korea will be ranked among the top three countries in the game industry and so Korea's content industry will write a new history. nw

Minister Yu In-chon of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 3rd R, at the center table, leads hand clapping after announcing the government plan Dec. 3 to invest 350 billion won in the development of the game industry to put Korea among top three game countries in the world by 2012.