Nexon cited user-friendly content and an optional monetization model as the secrets behind the long-term success of its mobile massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Mabinogi Mobile, developed by its subsidiary DevCAT.
Nexon said on the 22nd that Mabinogi Mobile "contributed to changing the domestic mobile MMORPG market, which had been dominated by the 'Lineage-like' genre centered on excessive competition and high spending," and stated accordingly. The company said it drew out the original fun of MMORPGs by featuring content focused on coexistence and cooperation.
Since its launch at the end of March, Mabinogi Mobile has steadily remained near the top of major app market revenue rankings. On the 5th, the start of the Chuseok holiday, it ranked No. 1 in revenue on Google Play despite having passed seven months since its official launch. This trend is the exact opposite of typical mobile MMORPGs, which see a surge of users right after launch followed by a rapid exodus and disappearance from the top revenue rankings.
In particular, as new users in their teens and 20s joined, it has held the No. 1 spot in monthly active users (MAU) in the mobile MMORPG category since its official launch. Among gamers, a new term, "Mobinogi-like," has emerged to mean that many games with monetization models similar to Mabinogi Mobile should come out.
Nexon emphasized as a differentiator for Mabinogi Mobile that spending is "optional," not "mandatory," to enjoy core content. A company official said, "By supporting mobile and PC Cross play and presenting a 'game anyone can enjoy,' we designed the difficulty of combat content to be user-friendly." In fact, after the September update, among users who reached level 85, the proportion who cleared the most recently released "Bari Abyss" reached 86.9%. This is significantly higher than in other MMORPGs.
Since the September update, it has ranked No. 1 in active users in the mobile RPG genre (competitive, collection, puzzle), and the new user influx rate was tallied at 37.9%. Nexon said, "With no spending stress, churn has dropped markedly, leading to high retention," and added, "Ultimately, games grow on the basis of fundamental fun, which is an important message."
Mabinogi Mobile breaks away from the traditional combat-centered structure of mobile MMORPGs and offers a new play experience through life content-focused design such as logging, mining, fishing, gathering, part-time jobs, and campfires. Rather than simply stacking high specs, it offers a new experience of a "game of living together" centered on cooperation, relationships, and memories.
Lee Jin-hun, director of Mabinogi Mobile at DevCAT, said, "Mabinogi Mobile views human consolidation as the essence of MMORPGs and, from the initial planning stage, adopted 'meetings and adventures' as core values," adding, "We sought to convey the appeal of cooperation over competition, and we find it very meaningful that these results presented new possibilities for the domestic mobile game market."