Korea's first game NFT exchange to open next month

Come next month, Korea will see its first online game-based non-fungible token exchange. 

Seoul-based video game developer WeMade Co., Ltd will open an exchange where users can trade characters and more within a game as cryptocurrencies. With other game developers here announcing they also plan to enter the NFT space, experts expect the blockchain-based game market to become even more competitive.

WeMade is the creator of the Legend of Mir series of MMORPGs; the most successful two being The Legend of Mir 2 and its sequel The Legend of Mir 3. MMORPG stands for massively multiplayer online role-playing game, referring to any story-driven online video game where a player can take on the persona of a character in a virtual or fantasy world and interact with a large number of other players. 

THE LAUNCH OF MIR4NFT 

WeMade will release the exchange, dubbed Mir4NFT, on Dec. 14.

On the exchange, users can trade the game characters they have developed or any other items they may have accumulated during the play. The currency will be WeMade’s digital asset called WEMIX, which can be purchased through Korean and overseas cryptocurrency exchanges. 

Even though there have been NFTs based on a game’s intellectual property before,  Mir4NFT will be the first NFT exchange wherein contents within a game are linked. 

COM2US AND NCSOFT TO FOLLOW SUIT

Com2uS and its parent company Gamevil Inc are set to follow WeMade's move.

Com2uS is a mobile and online game development and publishing company established in 1998 and listed on the Kosdaq. It has corporate offices in Korea, the United States, Japan and China. 

Gamevil is also a public company but it specifically develops and publishes video games for mobile phone use. Its offices are in Seoul and California. Gamevil acquired Com2uS in late 2013, one of its main competitors at that time. 

Com2uS will release its NFT-based game MMORPG and Gamevil will add NFT elements to its existing online baseball game. 

Together, the two companies will introduce their own cryptocurrency with the working title of C2X. 

Earlier, Com2uS invested in US blockchain platform Mythical Games, which allows users to create and trade NFTs. Its platforms include Mythical Economic Engine and Mythical Marketplace. 

Gamevil, for its part, made an additional purchase of a 21.9% stake in cryptocurrency exchange Coinone last month. 

GAME AND TECH GIANTS ALSO BULLISH ON NFT

Pangyo-based NCSoft Corp., primarily known for its MMORPG hit Lineage and Guild Wars, is also planning a release of a NFT-based game next year. 

The company leadership said it believes the MMORPG is the genre most suited for employing NFT. To this end, it is also considering developing its own cryptocurrency.

Kakao Games Corp., a subsidiary of tech conglomerate Kakao, is also planning to open an NFT exchange next year.

Write to Kim Joo-wan at kjwan@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.