Netmarble & NC showcase New Titles at G-Star 2025, Driven by IP Popularity
Busan, South Korea – november 13, 2025 – Netmarble and NC Games highlighted a focus on established intellectual properties (IPs) at G-Star 2025, currently underway at BEXCO in Busan. Netmarble unveiled five games in development: ▲Evil Bane, ▲only I Level Up: Karma, ▲Seven Deadly sins: Origin, ▲Mongil: Star Dive, and ▲Sol: Intantz. NC showcased ‘Horizon Steel frontiers,’ a collaboration based on the “Horizon zero Dawn” franchise.
The shift towards leveraging popular ips reflects rising development costs and increased barriers to entry in the global gaming market, according to industry analysis presented at the event. Companies are prioritizing investment efficiency by capitalizing on pre-existing fanbases rather than risking resources on untested new IPs.
“In an surroundings were it is difficult to predict the likelihood of success for new IPs and where development and marketing costs have increased, IPs with already proven fandom have higher investment efficiency compared to profits,” a report stated. Collaboration with successful overseas IPs also builds user trust and allows for diversified genre exploration and platform expansion without jeopardizing the original work’s established following.
NC CEO Kim Taek-jin explained his inspiration for ‘Horizon Steel Frontiers,’ recalling his experiance with “Horizon Zero Dawn” in 2017.”I couldn’t hide my excitement about the vibrant world and the battles with giant mechanical creatures. It felt unfortunate that I had to venture into this world alone. I was confident that the battle with the mechanical creatures would be a wholly different experience from fantasy monsters.”
