‘Multi platform game’, which enables linkage among PC, consol, smartphone etc., is being popular.

According to industry sources on March 13, mobile-PC, console-PC-linked ‘multi-platform games’, which aimed at those who want to enjoy mobile games without concerning about data consumption and usage fees and those who want to use video console games as PCs, is expected that it will become the next ‘trend’ of the game market after the game``s baton.

Kakaotalk, Microsoft, Facebook etc. are now in the competition for leadership of ‘Post mobile game’ era.

Kakao has recently launched a ``star player`` that enables mobile games available on PC screens. The star play service is a principle that installs a virtual Android phone on a user``s PC and runs a mobile game.

Service users can search for and play Android games in Windows environment. You can now access popular Android mobile games such as ``Lineage 2 Revolution`` and ``Destiny Child`` by installing the games on your PC by installing a special program (star app player) on the star play website.

This cross-platform service is aimed at game users who want to enjoy mobile games with vast content of existing online games on a larger screen without concerning about excessive data use. Kakaotalk aims to be a gaming platform that will break the boundaries of devices such as desktop PCs and tablet PCs beyond smartphones.

Facebook , on the other hand, is planning to launch a PC web game service that is linked to mobile in Korea within the year. Facebook games will be available by selecting the "Games" category that appears when accessing the Facebook PC web page.

A mobile game running on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store is now expected to be developed as a ‘facebook game’ version available on the PC. Games on Facebook will be connected on PCs and smartphones. The history (experience, etc.) of the game that the user enjoyed on the PC facebook screen will be directly connected to the mobile game.

An industry predicts that the social networking games (SNG), which are simple to enjoy with acquaintances, will emerge on the Facebook platform. Especially popular foreign SNG is expected to be active in Korea. In the past, when Facebook has had a game business in Korea, ``Empire & Alice`` developed by US SNG game Zinga received service from Korean users as a Facebook game supported Korean language.

However Facebook withdrew its game business in August 2014 due to restrictions imposed by Korean domestic law, which is related to the classification system. This year, the government has cancelled the pre-classification system for domestic distribution games and allowed the companies designated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as their own classification companies to autonomously classify online games (excluding youths and arcade games) with the classification system in place. Therefore, Facebook is now under preparation to resume its domestic game business in Korea.

Microsoft, on the other hand, is planning to launch a variety of console games in the domestic market with ``Xbox Play Animate`` service, which allows users to enjoy the game between the console game ``Xbox One`` and Windows 10 PC this year without any additional fee. Games such as ``Sea of Thives``, ``State of Decay 2`` and ``Crackdown 3`` will be released as Xbox play anime games.

An industry expert said, ‘It will be a competitive advantage for game developers to allow users to access games in a convenient way in the future.’ In order to increase competitiveness, interworking among mobile platforms, PCs and consoles is essential.’

By Kim Soo Yeon newsnews@


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