Netmarble last month unveiled the new massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) "Game of Thrones: King's Road," using the popular drama license "Game of Thrones." With a globally successful intellectual property (IP) at the forefront and as a project prepared over a long period, it was considered a highly anticipated title even before launch. However, immediately after release, the number of users on both PC and mobile has been falling quickly. Netmarble has moved to address user feedback and strengthen communication, but no clear rebound signal has appeared.
According to Mobile Index on the 2nd, the daily active users (DAU) of the mobile version of Game of Thrones: King's Road peaked at 24,017 on the 21st, the day after launch last month. But it then turned downward, dropping to 6,645 on the 29th last month. In just eight days, the user count fell about 72%.
The decline in new installs is even steeper. After recording 24,477 on the second day of launch, it fell to 904 on the 29th last month, down about 96%.
The situation is similar on PC platforms. According to SteamDB, as of the day, Game of Thrones: King's Road remains No. 84 in Steam sales revenue rankings. The peak concurrent users in the past 24 hours stood at around 605, and by daily player count it did not make it into the top 100.
There are various reasons why Game of Thrones: King's Road is accepting such a report card. Of roughly 3,300 total reviews on Steam, about 1,100 were negative, and the issues users most frequently pointed out are the monetization structure and the content makeup.
Before launch, the company said it would not introduce loot boxes to ease concerns about the business model (BM), but after the actual service began, many noted that the payment burden is larger than expected. There is also no small amount of dissatisfaction with the repetitive content structure and high difficulty. Most say the universe and story are excellent, but as a game, it falls short.
Netmarble did not just sit and watch. Three days after launch, the company moved to revamp the monetization structure. When controversy erupted over double charging surrounding a battle pass product priced at 55,000 won, it converted that item into a free reward and decided to issue refunds to existing purchasers. On the 28th last month, Jang Hyeon-il, PD at Netmarble Neo, personally appeared on a developer live broadcast to explain future update plans and listen to user opinions.
Generally, even if user reviews are poor early after a game's release, there are many cases where the developer succeeds in a rebound by quickly reflecting user feedback. Recently, Pearl Abyss' "Crimson Desert" also faced a string of criticisms at launch but raised user ratings through continuous updates. However, for Game of Thrones: King's Road, it looks difficult to stem the decline in users despite Netmarble's active response.
In the industry, if the decline in users continues, the monetization of Game of Thrones: King's Road is expected to face greater pressure. Because for free-to-play games, the size of the user base directly connects to revenue. With new user inflow slowing sharply in less than 10 days after launch, difficulties are likely to grow further if existing users also leave.
A Netmarble official said, "As we have improved the areas users pointed out, including the BM, we will continue updates that reflect feedback," adding, "We will create an opportunity for a rebound through major updates going forward."