InZOI director Hyungjun 'Kjun' Kim says that he is proud to see fellow Korean developers succeed, but also reckons that Asian game developers still have lots to learn from the West.
His comments, made during a private Q&A session at Krafton's InZOI Studio in Seoul attended by GamesRadar+, come after being asked about the success of Crimson Desert – made by Pearl Abyss, which is also based in South Korea – and differences between the Western and Asian games industries.
"I'm always really proud of Korean developers," Kim said via a translator, adding that their success is reassuring for him: "I also gain courage, like 'okay, I can do it too!'"
However, despite the success of Crimson Desert and even InZOI, Kim adds, "even now, I still feel like Asian developers have a lot to learn from Western developers."
He adds that he believes Western developers are "more creative" and that he always tries to learn from them when developing games, too. Indeed, Peal Abyss originally intended Crimson Desert to be a prequel to its debut MMORPG, Black Desert Online, before changing to a single-player format that draws clear inspiration from Western and Japanese titles, such as The Witcher 3 and Dragon's Dogma 2. Obviously, InZOI itself represents a major effort to take on the life simulation genre dominated by The Sims.
Having spent most of his three-decade-long game development career working on MMORPGs specifically, like many other Korean game developers, Kim also highlights a growing desire to stop making the same types of games and try something new.
"This year I learned that those people that kept developing those types of games were finding it a bit boring," he says. "So recently, I think there are more people who are trying to learn from Western developers and just trying what they've been doing." Kim himself feels similarly, saying that he doesn't want to "build the same thing over and over again".
"Asian countries are really good at absorbing new things. So, I think there's a thought that we need to catch up to Western developers", he says, adding that always being in a rush due to "ppalli ppalli" culture (the Korean equivalent of "quickly, quickly") means absorbing new information and adapting rapidly is crucial.
Kim also makes it clear that he is not a representative for all game developers in Asia, saying that he is "just an old man".
