The 'BIC Festival,' a celebration gathering indie games from Korea and across the globe, kicked off today (the 14th) at BEXCO Exhibition Center 1 in Busan, running through the 16th. On this opening day, the Busan Indie Wave Conference was also held on the main stage, bringing together industry experts and indie developers to share their know-how.

Prior to the opening, Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo expressed his gratitude via a video message, noting that thanks to the interest of fans and industry stakeholders, the 12nd annual BIC 2026 has grown to feature over 850 entries from 57 countries. Mayor Jeon emphasized that "the unique charm of indie games lies in the ability to enjoy rules and stories not yet validated by the market, and to create works with a distinct color based on the developer's personal taste and critical perspective." He pledged his full support for all developers who persevere through trial and error to create games.

Following this, Kim Yong-ha, director of the IO Division at Nexon Games, took the stage for the main keynote, delivering a lecture titled, 'How Do Games Become Worlds.'

From the Era of 'National Games' to the Recent Trend of Market Fragmentation Based on Individual Tastes

Reflecting on his 27-year career, Director Kim explained that his most well-known titles were, in fact, somewhat 'indie-style' experiments within his companies. When development began on 'Qurare: Magic Library' in 2012, the market was dominated by PC MMORPGs boasting flashy visuals and action, and mobile games were struggling to replicate that scale. Collectible games featuring 'pretty girl' characters were not mainstream. His later VR project, 'Focus on You,' was also more of a side project than a major corporate initiative. Even 'Blue Archive,' which became a commercial success, was an exceptional case. Citing these examples, Director Kim emphasized that an indie-like sensibility remains a core pillar of his development philosophy.

He then touched upon how the current market trend differs from the past. In Korea, until the 2000s, it was common for gamers to gather at Internet cafes to share popular titles. The focus was on 'national games' like 'StarCraft' or 'League of Legends'—titles enjoyed and discussed by a massive user base—alongside PC online games and esports. Recently, however, the market has been reshaped into a model that precisely targets the niche tastes of specific fandoms.

For instance, while 'Pokémon' has become a popular choice for family visitors, 'Blue Archive' has a very specific target audience. Nevertheless, it boasts a powerful fandom, as evidenced by the 4500 users who gathered to run a 5km course at 'Kivotos Run 2026,' the game's first offline running event held at Misa Boat Race Park in Hanam, Gyeonggi-do, on June 14. Another example mentioned was 'Love and Deepspace,' a romance-simulation game that outperformed 'Genshin Impact' in revenue—a prime example of how a market once considered small has grown significantly.

Director Kim highlighted that genres once considered 'non-mainstream' now command massive fandoms in an era of hyper-segmented tastes. He noted that this fragmentation of taste is extending beyond the online space into offline events and commercial venues. The number of visitors to 'AGF KOREA,' the nation's largest subculture event, surged by about 40% from 72081 in 2024 to 105018 in 2025, while events like 'Bilibili World' in Shanghai and 'Comiket' in Tokyo have evolved from local gatherings into global phenomena.

Changes in commercial spaces are also noteworthy. By actively incorporating subculture brands, the AK Plaza Hongdae branch saw its total store revenue grow more than threefold, from ₩27.7 billion in 2021 to ₩98.2 billion in 2025.

A key characteristic of subculture fandoms, he noted, is that they do not stop at consumption but actively create their own content. 'Blue Archive' has successful fan-only events and exhibitions, and the illustration platform 'Pixiv' hosts over 1.27 million user-submitted works. Merchandise has also diversified beyond simple art books or acrylic stands to include high-quality props made with 3D printers and even model firearms. Director Kim emphasized that the most powerful trend in the current content market is not being led by a single mainstream force, but by fans who discover what they love, create content themselves, and expand their own worlds.

The Core of a Game IP is Evoking a Unique 'Lifestyle'

So, what is the core of this 'new world'—the IP—that captivates users?

While acknowledging that people usually associate IP with logos, character designs, and stories, Director Kim proposed that 'gameplay' is also a form of IP. In 'Pokémon,' even if characters and stories change, the core gameplay of throwing Poké Balls to catch, train, and battle remains constant. 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' has minimal story or character elements, but the repetitive actions of dropping, looting, and surviving, along with the symbol of the 'Level 3 Helmet,' have become iconic elements of its IP. In 'Mabinogi,' the repetitive actions of living, playing music, and adventuring in a fantasy world, combined with the social bonds formed through campfires and chance encounters, have become deeply rooted in the user experience and represent a core pillar of its IP.

In this regard, Director Kim quoted John Carmack to emphasize that gameplay is a crucial component of IP. However, he added that it is not enough to simply design fun gameplay; one must specifically design the 'lifestyle' of the user—what role they play in that world and what they experience.

'Blue Archive' designed its user lifestyle by combining three elements: 'Academy, Youth, and Military.' It was necessary to intuitively convey how the characters live and what experiences they share with the user. Thus, in the main story Vol. 1, the game immediately connects to a scene where students wear masks and rob a bank. This imprinted the unique worldview and gave the user a clear role as a 'Sensei' (teacher) who guides and lives alongside the students.

He identified 'consistency between roles and game experience' as a critical factor. Users give instructions to students via the 'Shittim Chest' tablet UI during combat, and converse through the messenger app 'MomoTalk' outside of combat. This aligns the context of mobile devices and tablets. Furthermore, the camera angles—from eye contact with characters in the lobby or 'Memorial Lobby' to the perspective during combat—are all designed from the consistent viewpoint of the 'Sensei.' This consistency is what creates user immersion.

He emphasized that characters must also reveal their personalities and lifestyles to be truly compelling. For example, 'Miyu' from the SRT Special Academy carries a sniper rifle as a sniper, and because she often lies in ambush, she has leaves stuck to her clothes. Her hesitation to remove these leaves naturally reveals her timid and insecure personality. Adding Memorial Lobbies and episodes that highlight these traits helps convey the depth of 'Miyu' to the users.

Director Kim also mentioned the current flood of games, each protecting its own world. He explained that just as 'Blue Archive' found a gap in the market—which was then dominated by apocalypse and moe anthropomorphism themes—by offering a refreshing academy story, there are still uncharted territories today. He cited 'Limbus Company,' which succeeded with a 'Sin-Resonance Cruel RPG' worldview, and 'Arknights: Endfield,' which incorporates factory construction and automation, as prime examples.

He explained that 'Project RX,' a new title currently under development at the IO Division's RX Studio, is an extension of this thinking. Based on high-quality 3D graphics using Unreal Engine 5, life content, and immersive storytelling, Director Kim said they are preparing a daily life with attractive characters that feels like a "homestay in another world," and that they plan to introduce it formally in the near future.

In the Age of AI, Developers Must Cultivate 'Taste' and 'Discernment'

Director Kim then addressed the hot topic of AI. Recently, AI has become capable of turning a sentence into an image, an image into a video, and even creating a playable game just from a prompt. The production paradigm has changed dramatically compared to just six months ago.

To explore the potential of generative AI in game development, the Nexon Games IO Division held an internal game jam for two days, from May 29 to 30. With prize money put up by the General PD and PDs, 51 teams of 1 to three people participated. In just two days of work time, a staggering 48 playable games were completed.

Seeing results with commercial-level quality and fun emerge so quickly made Director Kim feel the shift of the era. He predicted that for indie developers with limited manpower, the 'iteration' speed—creating results and receiving feedback—will be drastically shortened through the use of AI.

However, he emphasized that making games easier to build is a separate issue from getting chosen by users. According to SteamDB, 19112 new games were released on Steam in 2025, but 9327 of them had fewer than 10 reviews, and 2229 had none at all. Even as the number of games increases, the absolute time users can invest in games is limited, so simply making and releasing a game does not guarantee success.

Director Kim explained that in this environment, the true weapons a developer must possess are 'Taste' and 'Discernment.' AI excels at 'finding the right answer'—such as coding, math, and classification—and 'reproducing familiar expressions and patterns' that are already well-consumed and data-rich, like the Ghibli style. However, it cannot have its own subjectivity or taste in areas without a 'correct' answer, such as food preferences. It can only explain through various contexts which choice might be better. Using cooking as an analogy, he noted that because AI only learns cooking through text, it cannot feel the actual taste; humans must decide which of the many candidates to choose and how to refine the intended fun.

The core of Director Kim's argument was that 'discernment' is necessary for this. To build that discernment, he added, one needs a mindset that goes beyond simple 'likes and dislikes' to obsessively explore and verbalize "Why do I like this?" For example, feeling that ramen is "delicious" is just a preference, but analyzing and explaining the depth of the broth, the texture of the noodles, and the harmony of the tare is how one gradually acquires the discernment of a connoisseur or expert.

He explained that game directing is similar, emphasizing that by creating multiple results, comparing them side-by-side, and explaining the reason for choosing one, one establishes firm criteria for judgment. He mentioned that the recent successful indie game 'Mecha Chameleon' was not just a simple idea, but a result made possible because the creator had refined their taste and directing discernment through 38 UEFN maps and 5 Steam games.

Finally, Director Kim reiterated the importance of exploring and refining why you like what you like, rather than chasing off-the-shelf products that anyone can make and everyone likes. He encouraged developers to challenge themselves, stating that when the experience and choices of delivering that 'taste' to users accumulate, one can finally succeed with a solid world of their own and an IP that leads a fandom.

Q&A

Q. The perspective that "the process of turning personal taste into a discerning eye is the very weapon a developer can wield in the AI era" is intriguing. However, from a developer's standpoint, it seems difficult to be certain whether one truly possesses that 'discerning eye.' How can one gain such confidence?

Director Kim = I don't think perfect confidence exists. Others might easily say, "That person is just imitating," or "That's the real deal," but when you ask yourself, it's really hard to be 100% sure.

Ultimately, there is no choice but to make a lot of things yourself.

When you actually implement the ideal worldview, gameplay, and characters you had in your head, you will find that nine times out of ten, it doesn't go as intended. The process of refining it to match your desired result through countless trials and errors is the very path to honing your discernment.

Feedback from others is also important. When you upload a character, story, or small game you designed to a community or to users, you check, "Is the reaction I intended actually happening?" By overcoming the barriers you set for yourself and seeing the intended reaction from users, confidence begins to grow little by little. I believe it is a goal reached through countless attempts, comparisons, and refinements; nothing happens all at once.

Q. I have too many things I like, and my favorite works change all the time, so it's hard to grab onto one thing and dig deep. In such a situation, I'm curious how to capture my taste and develop it into discernment.

Director Kim = I think that's very difficult and varies from person to person. It's clear that people can be drawn to different things depending on the situation. It's true that this makes refinement difficult. In such cases, you need to plant an 'anchor' first and dig deeper into why you like it. If you do that, you will be able to savor that taste

Take glasses-wearing characters as an example: Why do you like them? Is it because of the design? Do you like the personality that corresponds to the stereotype of that character? Or, if you talk about 'avant-garde,' what part of it do you like? If you pick one thing and keep asking questions, you can dig deeper into what kind of feeling makes you like that type.

In terms of food, there are people who like spicy cold noodles, people who like hot pot, and people who say they like all kinds of food. In this case, finding a common denominator is also an answer. For spicy cold noodles and hot pot, isn't there a common denominator of liking spicy flavors? If you start exploring from there, I think there are parts you can reach as the focus narrows.

Q. In this lecture, you mainly mentioned visuals, systems, and interactions regarding IP. To what extent do you think sound or music influences IP formation?

Director Kim = It was one of the things I paid a lot of attention to during the development of 'Blue Archive.' Personally, I really like rhythm games, and genre-wise, I like EDM. So, I personally thought 'Kawaii Bass' fit well when putting EDM into an academy story. However, there were no examples of academy stories using EDM or Kawaii Bass. Usually, it was rock or pop. So, I wondered if putting Kawaii Bass at the forefront was the right move. But I thought this direction could be right, so I matched it with EDM and listened to it, and judged that the sparkling feeling and cheerful sound of Kawaii Bass would fit well.

So, I hired a composer in that field, put it in the game, and it received a good response. It was a taste that generally didn't match well, but I think it worked well according to my intent by refining it.

Q. You emphasized that one acquires their own charm through the refinement of taste. If leading people's interest with one's own 'taste' and 'discernment' is the way forward, I'm curious if the methodology for maintaining it as an IP in the long term will remain the same as it is now, or if it will change later.

Director Kim = Long-term IP maintenance is not something that happens by one's own will alone. I also never thought 'Blue Archive' would receive this much response. Honestly, it's too difficult to think about long-term strategies and market size in advance. I think it's important to first clearly bring out the taste you have in mind in the given situation.

These days, it's true that if you produce quality that satisfies yourself and others, it's an era where you can gather many people with what you like. This is because as media has fragmented, it has become an era where individuals can quickly find their own tastes. It has also become easier for people with commonalities and points of contact to form communities. If you produce quality that satisfies yourself, I believe a community can form around it, and if that continues, the lifespan of the IP can be sustained.