Features

PG is 10: Sponsor profile - Joycity

Korean online gaming pioneer looks back at a decade of success

PG is 10: Sponsor profile - Joycity
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By the time it's done, our 10th anniversary celebration running March 10th - April 10th will include some 50 articles that look back at the past decade of PG. This coverage has been made possible by the support of our sponsors, so it's seems fair to ask them to join us in taking a look back. Step into the spotlight, Joycity…

Let's get to it. Who are you and what do you do?
Joycity is a well-known mobile and online game developer and publisher in South Korea. We’ve been in the Korean game industry for more than 20 years, being a pioneer in online sports games with the Freestyle series, which is the most successful Korean sports game. And we’ve also had a tremendous success in the Korean mobile market with our social networking game Rule the Sky.

Leveraging our experience and success in Korea, we've since expanded into the global market. One of our mobile titles, Gunship Battle has exceeded 65 million downloads worldwide, while Game of Dice is ranked No.1 in Hong Kong.

Beyond the current achievements, we continue to strive to deliver better game experiences to the world's mobile players and get them to discover Joycity.

Can you recall the first interaction you had with PG?
We’ve always wanted to introduce our games through Pocket Gamer, a gaming site which is universally respected.

We finally got a chance to interact with PG after the launch of Game of Dice in October 2015. Since December we've been able to increase our global presence thanks to Pocket Gamer’s support. We were very excited the first time we our game featured on the site. It was a genuinely big moment to us. We hope we continue to grow in the mobile game industry alongside Pocket Gamer.

Take us back to the start. How did things begin for you and what was the mobile gaming landscape like at that time?
Joycity was established in 1994 and its first game, War Bible, was the first SF MMOG in Korea and has become a pioneer who led the growth of the Korea game industry.

In 2005, Joycity developed Korea’s very first street basketball online game, Freestyle. It was the first ever online sports game to succeed commercially – and not just in Korea, but also in Taiwan, China, Japan, and the United States.

The sequel Freestyle 2 and a football version, Freestyle Football, have also seen success in the online market, making Joycity the leader of online sports game developer in Korea.

In 2010, Joycity successfully expanded its presence in the mobile game market with social network-based town-building title Rule the Sky. The game was the first of its kind to ever see success in Asia.

Can you give us some notable landmarks for your company from the last 10 years?
In the past decade we’ve conquered the Korean gaming market with innovative titles such as the Freestyle series and Rule the Sky. Now we’ve been striving to build our success beyond Korea with titles like Game of Dice, Gunship Battle, and Warship Battle.

  • 1994: Joycity established
  • 2005: Launched Korea's most popular online sports game, Freestyle
  • 2008: Listed on KOSDAQ
  • 2010: Launched Freestyle Football
  • 2011: Launched Joycity's first mobile game, Rule the Sky, which was a legendary hit title in Korean mobile market
  • 2013/2014: Brought the Freestyle series to China
  • 2015: Gunship Battle exceeded 35 million downloads on Google Play
  • 2015: Launched Game of Dice globally in October
  • 2015: Launched Warship Battle, sequel to Gunship Battle
  • 2015: Launched five mobile titles globally and three mobile titles domestically
  • 2016: Gunship Battle exceeded 60 million downloads
  • 2016: Warship Battle exceeded 12 million downloads
  • 2016: Game of Dice exceeded 6 million downloads
  • 2016: Will launch four mobile titles, a 3D combat simulation game, and three RPG titles globally

What are you up to nowadays?
We are currently focusing on the new update for Game of Dice. This update will feature a new theme, ‘Mysterious Mansion’, which gives a thrilling and spooky atmosphere to the gameplay. Players will also get a new map, new character, and new skill card.

We're also working on our upcoming titles which will be released later this year. We have two RPG titles ready to meet global players.

Finally, where do you see mobile games and the industry going in the next 10 years?
These days, VR is in everyone's thoughts! Virtual Reality will change the game industry and market, and VR technology will dominate it.

To be part of the VR era, Joycity is already developing its own existing titles into a VR version of game. Joycity is not only focusing on recent market trends, but also following the rapidly advancing technological development to ensure we lead the global mobile games market.


What's all this, then? The Pocket Gamer 10th anniversary is a month-long celebration of the last decade of mobile games running March 10th - April 10th and featuring a stream of retrospective articles and fun stuff, supported by our friends at Gram Games, Gamevil, JoyCity, Rovio, Nordeus, and Ninja Kiwi. Head over to the PG 10th anniversary homepage for more information.