On the 15th, the development team of Smilegate's "Chaos Zero Nightmare" (CaZena) made a surprise appearance at Comic World 335 held at KINTEX in Ilsan. Choi Seung-hyun, the Live Director, appeared cosplaying as the game character "Judas," while Kyung Min-gyu, Content Ma Ke-ting (Team Lead), appeared cosplaying as "Councilor Lumil."
The reason the developers chose to cosplay was due to a request from users. While hosting a CaZena live broadcast, comments arose that the two resembled their in-game characters, which led to requests for them to actually perform cosplay. At the Comic World venue, the developers personally handed out beverages themed around CaZena's concept and greeted fans.
In June, at the Nexon "KeyboToss Run" held at Misae Regatta Course in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, Kim Yong-ha, Chief Producer, along with the "Blue Archive" development team, attended. They did not simply appear on stage to greet and leave; instead, they ran the full 5-kilometer course alongside participants. To complete the run, they had been splitting their time for weeks in advance to practice.
Recently, unlike in the past, game industry development teams are increasing their touchpoints with users. Beyond traditional developer notes or YouTube live broadcasts, development teams are directly attending various offline events such as pop-up stores and game shows, expanding their physical presence. Advances in technology have also made it easier for developers and users to meet than before.
NC is the company that has reportedly changed the most within the game industry. While operating blockbuster IPs like Lineage, NC rarely engaged in direct communication with users unless the issue was of major significance. However, after launching "Aion 2" last year, NC strengthened its communication efforts by holding 16 developer live broadcasts over a 100-day period. At the time, an NC representative stated, "In the past, we would only engage in communication when an issue reached a priority level of around 10, but now we go live even for issues at level 2."
The expansion of touchpoints with users began first in Western regions dominated by PC and console games. AAA-level games require significant time and manpower to develop; if they fail commercially, the damage to the game company is relatively large compared to other titles. Consequently, a culture has taken root where user feedback is actively incorporated from the development process onward to reduce the risk of failure. Recently, representatives from game companies that received approval from the Chinese government and are proceeding with localization through local publishers expressed surprise at seeing beta tests conducted dozens or even hundreds of times with thousands or tens of thousands of users prior to launch.
The trend of domestic game companies moving away from secrecy and increasing their engagement with users is encouraging. Game companies that actively incorporate user feedback and jointly determine development directions, rather than simply telling users to wait while they create masterpieces on their own, will ultimately receive better results. This is an era where developers must view users not merely as consumers but as a key pillar of the development team and walk alongside them.
in TECH
