Nexon’s Dave the Diver rises to global top game in 2 weeks after launch

Nexon Co. is poised to change the South Korean game scene with its new adventure PC role-playing game that has grabbed gamers around the world immediately since its rollout late last month with its simple, retro graphics and interesting storyline about a daytime diver who runs a sushi restaurant at night.

Dave the Diver, a PC RPG game, topped Steam’s weekly top-selling chart in the second week of July ending the 14th, according to the US-based PC game distribution platform, which is also the world’s largest.

This was also the second week in a row that the new Korean game has claimed the No. 1 position on the platform.

NEW GAME TREND

Developed and published by Mintrocket, a game brand under Nexon Korea Corp., Dave the Diver, debuted on the market on June 28.

A day after its release, the adventure management game instantly became the best-selling paid PC game on Steam.

Its cumulative users reached one million on the tenth day since its official launch, according to Steam, which also notes that the overall review of the game on the platform is “Overwhelmingly Positive” with a 97% positive feedback rate.  

This is Nexon’s best-ever sales result for one of its PC and console games.

The stellar performance of Dave the Diver is expected to tip the balance in the Korean game market dominated by online and mobile games that cost a lot to develop and promote.

“Rivals’ game portfolios could change depending on the success of Dave the Diver,” said an official from the local game industry.

“Nexon has been ahead of its peers in extending the lifespan of its old games like MapleStory with solid content upgrades and lavish marketing campaigns but (with Dave the Diver) it also has succeeded in distancing itself from others in a new game race.”

MANAGEMENT GAME IN RETRO STYLE

Mintrocket, the developer of Dave the Diver, is Nexon’s new game brand launched in May last year with a goal to develop games to play purely for fun, not cash-cow games.

It focuses more on fresh ideas, new storytelling and fun factors to entice gamers’ interest instead of an emphasis on rich graphics.

Dave the Diver was its first game project that fully meets its intent.

Its 90s-style retro graphics are credited for making the game easier to navigate, increasing its access to broader age groups encompassing both young and old generations.

Its side-scrolling simple graphics are compensated not only with some 4D effects-like vibration, lively sound effects and 3D images but also with the compelling adventures of the game’s main character Dave.

Dave is a diver who hunts fish in the sea by day for his sushi restaurant that he opens only at night. Gamers increase their scores for satisfying restaurant guests with new sushi dishes and different interior designs.

But its big difference from other management games comes from the daytime fish hunting adventures, in which gamers can collect different types of fishing equipment and a variety of fish from around the world. 

Dave the Diver is priced at 24,000 won ($18.95) on Steam, which is not that expensive compared with other games.    

Mintrocket is currently developing two other games, and Nexon is expected to continue to invest in similar games if Dave the Diver proves itself as a trendsetter in the game industry.

Nexon has enough ammunition to shake the market after it reaped a quarterly record high of 540.6 billion won in operating profit in the first three months of this year. Sales also hit a quarterly record of 1.19 trillion won.

By Ju-Hyun Lee

deep@restaurant.com


Sookyung Seo edited this article.