The first half of 2026 saw the gaming industry traverse a brutal tunnel of 'restructuring' and 'cost pressure'. As the pandemic-era bubble fully burst, global console platform holders like Sony and Xbox initiated massive layoffs and studio closures, while domestic mid-sized developers faced a wave of bankruptcies, heightening the sense of crisis. On top of this, exploding memory demand from AI data centers sent gaming hardware prices soaring, thinning the wallets of consumers. It was a period where both the industry and gamers were forced to hunker down.

Amidst the chaos, 'the rights of gamers and the restoration of trust' emerged as the most critical topics. Nexon took a radical step by offering 'full refunds' following the stealth patch controversy of MapleStory M, while globally, the 'Stop Killing Games' bill, which aims to put the brakes on the unilateral termination of digital game services, passed the California State Assembly.

Regarding the error where the highest tier ability options failed to appear in MapleStory M—an issue that surfaced this January—Nexon decided to refund all payments made by users since the service launched last November. This decision was heavily influenced by the fact that the company not only faced a critical error but also failed to notify users when it was fixed, effectively executing a 'stealth patch' that severely damaged user trust.

Following these events, the head of the MapleStory IP, former division head Kang Won-ki, has resigned, and Nexon CEO Kang Dae-hyun has taken on the role. Additionally, the director leading PC online MapleStory, Kim Chang-seop, has been appointed as deputy division head. This move signals a clear intent to restore shattered trust through full refunds and significant personnel changes. With 'full refunds' emerging as a new card in the face of paid probability-based item issues, a precedent has been set for more responsible management systems regarding such products.

MapleStory M managed to recover its sales figures, even returning to the top of the Google revenue charts after the refund measure. However, with operational issues persisting, more meticulous inspection and management are required.

Nexon has established a 'Chairman' position for the first time in its history. The role is filled by Chairman Patrick Söderlund, who joined the Nexon family when his studio was acquired in 2019. With Embark Studios—a 400-person team—having seen Arc Raiders surpass 12 million units sold just two months after release, all eyes are on where Chairman Söderlund will focus Nexon's efforts.

During a capital markets briefing on March 31, Chairman Söderlund emphasized a 'select and focus' strategy, stating that Nexon would re-examine its entire game lineup, including new titles. While Nexon recorded a record-breaking annual revenue of 475.1 billion yen (approx. 4.5 trillion KRW) last year, rising labor costs meant that operating profit remained at the previous year's level. With heavy hitters like Dungeon & Fighter Mobile, The First Descendant, and Arc Raiders released annually, the company can no longer ignore operational efficiency regarding operating profit.

In this process, some beloved games have said their goodbyes. Bubble Fighter ended service on June 24, and on August 13, Crazy Arcade BnB (hereinafter 'BnB') will also close its doors. As BnB carried the title of a 'national game', many fans have expressed their deep regret.

One of the major achievements for the domestic industry is that after a long wait, Crimson Desert surpassed 6 million global sales in just about two months. While there have been notable domestic and international single-player package games like Lies of P and Stellar Blade, Crimson Desert marks a shift where the target scope has expanded significantly from AA to AAA.

What caught the attention of both domestic and foreign observers is the update strategy, which differs from typical single-player games. While market reaction was lukewarm at launch, the developer turned the public sentiment around by releasing PC online-level patches that addressed identified issues. This approach, combined with the discovery of vast amounts of content that spread through broadcasts and videos, helped maintain high interest over a long period.

Based on this, Pearl Abyss has scheduled a DLC release for Crimson Desert. Furthermore, expectations for the next title, 'DokeV', have risen based on the gameplay quality shown in Crimson Desert. Pearl Abyss stated that DokeV is in the pre-production stage, and they plan to inject core resources to accelerate its completion.

NCSoft, which improved its performance in Q1 thanks to Aion 2 and Lineage Classic, has set a new goal of '5 trillion KRW in annual revenue by 2030.' The foundation for this lies in over 20 new titles, primarily non-MMORPGs. Among them, the one that grabbed attention upon its reveal is 'Astrae Oratio' by the new domestic developer Dynamis One. Last January, NC made a strategic investment in Dynamis One to secure global publishing rights, and information has been rolling out since May.

Astrae Oratio is a 'shindenki' (new legend) subculture RPG. Set in a fictional 1889 Tokyo where daily life and magic coexist, the story follows a civil servant assigned to a magic-related department. The industry is watching to see if NC can finally make a mark in the subculture market, where they were previously considered weak. This title reflects NC's vision to renovate its corporate structure by utilizing publishing to introduce a variety of games with distinct strengths.

The largest shareholder of Kakao Games has changed from Kakao to a special purpose company (LAAA Investment) established by LY Corporation. Suffering from deficits due to a lack of new releases, Kakao Games secured 300 billion KRW in operating capital through this deal, which it plans to use to strengthen its global competitiveness and build a foundation for mid-to-long-term growth. However, the company dismissed rumors regarding a merger with Line Games, stating that no such discussions have taken place.

The fact that the parent company of a major domestic publisher is shifting from Korea to Japan was a shock to the industry. However, positive outlooks suggest that if Kakao Games' internal development capability—centered on Lionheart Studio, the creators of Odin—is combined with the platform strengths of LY Corporation in Japan and Southeast Asia, the company's overseas expansion will gain momentum.

In fact, Kakao Games CFO Shin Kwon-ho mentioned at the extraordinary shareholders' meeting on June 22 that the Line platform is strong in Southeast Asia and that as income levels rise in those regions, their share of the mobile market is increasing. Detailed cooperation plans between LY Corporation and Kakao Games are expected to be revealed later. Additionally, since it is no longer a Kakao subsidiary, the company is considering a new name to replace Kakao Games.

WeMade, which struggled to recover from the aftermath of the WEMIX hacking incident, has also seen a change in its largest shareholder. Chairman Park Kwan-ho, who has led the company, sold his entire stake in WeMade to the investment platform firm 'NeoPulse', which is linked to China's Alibaba. The total transaction amount is approximately 920 billion KRW. NeoPulse plans to drive growth by promoting new global titles, including those in China, and diversifying business models through cooperation with Chinese IT companies and game developers.

WeMade had bet its future on the cryptocurrency 'WEMIX', but last year's hacking incident and delisting from major domestic exchanges left damage it could not recover from. In the process, former CEO Jang Hyun-gook moved to NEXUS Co., Ltd., and Chairman Park Kwan-ho has been steering management. However, annual revenue decreased in 2025, and while operating profit increased compared to the previous year, this was largely due to cost reductions. Thus, the company may have concluded that NeoPulse, an investment firm with ties to Alibaba, is the right answer for the Chinese market where the Mir IP remains strong.

Following Kakao Games becoming a subsidiary of LY Corporation, WeMade's sale to a Chinese investment platform highlights a trend of ownership in major domestic game companies shifting from domestic to overseas entities.

A scandal that shook domestic e-sports in the first half of this year was 'Ruler' Park Jae-hyuk's tax evasion. The National Tax Service did not recognize the labor costs paid to the father for manager duties between 2018 and 2021 as necessary expenses, and also deemed stock trading under the father's name as tax evasion. While the incident happened in the past, it became public knowledge last March when the dismissal of the appeal filed by 'Ruler' regarding the comprehensive income tax and gift tax assessment was disclosed.

Around the same time, several 'Eternal Return' pro players serving as social service agents were denied 'concurrent employment' permits, leading to speculation that the 'Ruler' case might be affecting players in other disciplines, but the Military Manpower Administration dismissed this as "an unrelated matter."

In response, the LCK Investigation Committee decided not to impose separate sanctions. The statute of limitations for imposing a penalty had passed, and the act was considered tax avoidance rather than the clear criminal act of 'tax evasion.' Subsequently, the KeSPA Sports Fairness Committee decided to impose 40 hours of community service and a fine of 20 million KRW on 'Ruler'. They judged that as a public figure who represented Korea at the 2022 Asian Games, the player failed to uphold the required standards of conduct. With e-sports included in this year's Asian Games as well, it is time to refine relevant regulations to match the rising status of e-sports.

Gaming equipment prices are rising alarmingly. As demand for AI data center memory has exploded, the supply of consumer RAM and SSDs has dwindled, leading to skyrocketing prices. Even for the same product from the same brand, RAM prices have more than doubled, increasing the burden of purchasing a gaming PC. Furthermore, the 'big three' consoles— PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X/S—have all seen simultaneous price increases. The Steam Machine also disappointed many with a price tag of $1,049 (approx. 1.61 million KRW) for the 512GB model.

The future outlook remains grim. Microsoft announced an Xbox Series X/S price hike on the 26th, predicting prices could nearly double by next autumn, while US memory giant Micron projects that supply conditions will only gradually improve by 2028. Jefferies Equity Research expects memory prices to rise by 40-50% in Q3 compared to Q2, with another 30-40% in Q4, and this trend is expected to continue through 2027.

As gaming hardware becomes more expensive, online service prices like PS Plus and Nintendo Switch Online have also risen. Predictions suggest package game prices will follow an upward curve starting with GTA 6. With gamers' wallets under pressure from all sides, the phenomenon of flocking to 'proven' games is expected to accelerate.

The domestic and international gaming industry has entered a phase of massive restructuring. Even console platform holders Sony and Xbox, which host numerous development studios, could not escape this. Sony ended development of Destiny Guardians and carried out massive layoffs at the developer, Bungie. Xbox also moved to spin off or shut down Ninja Theory, Double Fine, and Compulsion Games after the arrival of a new CEO.

Sony had acquired Bungie to strengthen live-service games and prepared 12 new titles, but canceled 8 of them, including 'Concord', which is considered one of the biggest failures in the industry. Xbox acquired large publishers like Bethesda and Activision Blizzard to leap forward via its Game Pass subscription service, but ended up facing declining game revenue and stagnant subscription numbers.

This is a result of companies trying to shed the excessive weight gained during the pandemic growth period while confronting the limits of the game industry, which has been overshadowed by platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Western giants like Ubisoft and EA have also started restructuring, while NetEase and Tencent, which were actively investing in foreign studios, are scaling back. In this process, the fate of 'Gang of Dragons' from Nagoshi Studio, which had garnered attention for featuring actor Ma Dong-seok, has become uncertain.

The domestic situation is no different. EVR Studio, which grabbed attention with 'Mudang: Two Hearts', is heading toward closure, and Clover Games, known for 'Lord of Heroes', has gone bankrupt. XL Games' 'The Cube, Save Us' decided to end service just two weeks after launch. There is a growing sense of crisis that the 'middle' of the domestic industry—the mid-sized companies that bridge the gap between large developers and small indie teams—is disappearing.

As digital purchases replace physical copies, even for single-player games, a new problem has arisen: if a digital game's service ends, it becomes unplayable. After Ubisoft's racing game 'The Crew' made such a decision, only to retract it due to user backlash, the 'Stop Killing Games' movement began, calling for guarantees that purchased games remain playable.

Last May, the 'Protect Our Games Act' was passed by the California State Assembly, where many major US game companies are headquartered. For games released after January 1 next year, if the service required for play is terminated, companies must provide 60 days' notice and either allow offline play or offer a full refund. Games provided via subscriptions like Xbox Game Pass or free-to-play online games are excluded.

The 'Stop Killing Games' movement started to protect consumer rights and preserve classic games. With the announcement that this year's most anticipated title, 'GTA 6' will be released without a disc, voices calling for safety nets for digital games have grown louder. However, a balanced perspective is required, considering the industry's burden of maintaining games with no market viability and the potential chilling effect on live-service games released in package form.