As "growth" style idle games gain popularity in the mobile game market, major Korean game companies are rolling out related new titles one after another. The plan is to use idle games, which have low development costs, to secure a stable source of income and broaden the reach of popular game intellectual property (IP).
On the 8th, according to IGAworks Mobile Index, Nexon's idle RPG Maple Idle Adventure recorded combined revenue of 45.2 billion won in domestic app markets (Google Play Store, Apple App Store, ONE store) in March, ranking No. 1 among mobile games. Despite controversy over manipulated probabilities early this year, its momentum has not slowed, bringing in monthly revenue in the 40-billion-won range and holding the top spot for four straight months since December, 2025. Cumulative revenue so far this year is approaching 130 billion won.
Netmarble's idle RPG Stone Age Idle Adventure, released in March, also posted revenue of 14.2 billion won that month, placing it in the rankings at No. 6.
As short-form video content such as YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels emerges as mobile games' biggest competitor, game companies are focusing on idle games that can be enjoyed without burden. In idle games, characters grow or acquire resources on their own even without direct user control, featuring simple operation and no need for long sessions.
There is also an assessment that even short logins let players feel character growth, making them ideal for attracting "light users" who play casually. A game industry official said, "People today, regardless of age, are used to watching short-form videos, so preference is rising for idle games that progress with brief, occasional logins, rather than games that require spending a long time tackling complex quests."
According to the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA)'s 2025 Survey on Game Users, the domestic game usage rate fell from 70.5% in 2020, the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, to 50.2% last year, with analysis pointing to people spending their time instead watching short-form videos, animation, and video content such as drama and films.
Idle games, which require relatively little development cost, had been considered the domain of small and indie studios, but lately major companies are entering the genre by leveraging their flagship IP. Korean companies aiming to cultivate long-running IP like Japan's "Pokémon" or "Super Mario" are opting to reinterpret existing IP and expand their universes, rather than develop entirely new idle games.
After Maple Idle Adventure, based on Nexon's flagship MapleStory IP, became a hit, the company decided to unveil Dungeon & Fighter Idle Adventure, an idle RPG using the DUNGEON & FIGHTER IP, within the year. Netmarble is also strengthening the idle RPG genre based on its success with Seven Knights Idle Adventure in 2023. In March, it released Stone Age Idle Adventure using the Stone Age IP, which has surpassed 200 million cumulative users worldwide. Wemade Max also launched Wind Runner Idle Adventure, an idle RPG built on the Wind Runner IP with 60 million cumulative downloads, in a limited release only in the Philippines and Hong Kong in March.
For game companies, reusing the universe of already well-known IP can reduce marketing expenses while drawing in existing fans and securing new users at the same time—an "killing two birds with one stone" effect. Nexon CEO Lee Jeong-heon said at a capital markets briefing held in Tokyo, Japan, at the end of March, "New users account for more than half of Maple Idle Adventure's user base, and the overall user age skews younger."
As the industry's success formula polarizes between idle games with low entry barriers and little user effort, and big-budget PC and console blockbusters targeting "core game fans" who invest significant time and money, companies are shifting to a two-track strategy to pursue both at once.
Blockbusters that can succeed in overseas markets such as North America, like Pearl Abyss's AAA title Crimson Desert or Nexon's ARC Raiders, take long development periods and massive expenses, and it is hard to gauge their chances of success before launch. In response, companies appear to be securing stable revenue through the idle RPG genre and using that base to invest in blockbusters to diversify risk.
NCSOFT has moved beyond its traditional focus on MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games), presenting new shooting and subculture console titles and mobile casual games as future growth pillars. Krafton also plans to discover next-generation IP to follow its flagship Battlegrounds, centered on 19 development studios. It will release 12 new titles in various genres over the next two years.