Since the start of the year, the Chinese government has issued publishing licenses (panhao) for six Korean games, speeding the entry of K-games into the Chinese market. Licensing is becoming more active in China, the world's largest game market, and Korean game companies that have begun local service in China are showing results.
According to the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) on the 26th, the agency has issued foreign publishing licenses for six Korean games so far this year. A publishing license, or panhao, is a type of service permit China issues for games released in the country. In January, "Chaihongdao: Aerys Frontier," which uses ACTOZ SOFT's "Latale" intellectual property (IP), was licensed, and in February and March, licenses were issued for "Shaiya: Light and Dark" and "Shaiya: Conflict," respectively, both based on Nexon's massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) "Shaiya" IP.
In April, Embark Studios, a Nexon subsidiary, received a license for "ARC Raiders," and Gravity received one for a new title based on the "Ragnarok" IP. They will be released in China under the names "Hunter of Radiant Light" and "Fairyland Legend: Battlefield of the True Gods," respectively. In May, "Miracle: New Era," which uses Webzen's "MU" IP, received a license, bringing the total to six this year.
Rather than entering the Chinese market directly, Korean game companies are targeting China by providing their game IPs to local developers and operators such as Tencent, entrusting them with development and service. The strategy is seen as aiming to raise the odds of success through partners with a deep understanding of the local market, while reducing expense and marketing burdens from direct service and securing royalty revenue.
Korean games that began service in China after receiving licenses are delivering results. NC started official service in China on the 24th for its flagship MMORPG "Lineage2M" under the title "Heaven 2: Oath." After receiving a license in Oct. 2025, Tencent took on local publishing. Upon release, the game topped the popularity rankings on Chinese app stores. Tencent initially launched with 12 servers, but as users flooded in, it added more, and a total of 36 servers are now operating.
Smilegate's subculture game "Chaos Zero Nightmare (Kazena)," officially released in China last month, also reached No. 1 on the Chinese Apple App Store popularity rankings right after launch. After receiving a foreign publishing license in Aug. 2025, Tencent handled local publishing and began service. Riding its popularity, it ranked No. 8 in revenue on the Chinese Apple App Store as of the 17th.
For Nexon, the mobile version of "DAVE THE DIVER," developed by its subsidiary Mintrocket, reached No. 1 in mobile paid game sales in China after its release in February. It surpassed 500,000 copies sold in 11 days and posted the best results among paid games released in China this year. It is the second-highest sales record ever among releases from local publisher XD.
Because China is the world's largest game market, the licensing and local success of Korean game companies are seen as positive signs. According to the China Game Industry Annual Conference report, China's game market last year grew 7.68% from a year earlier to 350.789 billion yuan (about 73 trillion won), and the number of users approached 683 million, up 1.35% from a year earlier.
Its share in the Korean game market is also large. According to a Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) report, in 2024 China accounted for the largest share of Korean game exports at 29.7%. That was up 4.2 percentage points from a year earlier. It was followed by Southeast Asia (20.6%), North America (19.5%), and Japan (8.3%).
A game industry official said, "Because China's market is so large, performance is significantly affected by whether a title becomes a hit," and added, "With new licenses continuing this year, if launches in China expand into next year, expectations will grow for a higher share of overseas sales and improved profitability for Korean game companies."