Translating local success to the global market can be difficult. At Casual Connect Asia, Head of Business Development for Fincon, Sean Lee, delved into the lessons learned in finding success in South Korea and overseas. By overcoming cultural barriers, differences in net infrastructure and more, including being named the 2015 Studio to Watch by Facebook, the lessons are abundant. They started off by building a community. Sean reflected, “What use is making a good game with no one to play it?” They selected two platforms to start off with: Facebook for the global community and Naver Cafe for the Korean community. Learn how they found success in the video below.
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Sean Lee is Head of Business Development at Fincon, a mobile games studio in South Korea, and is responsible for overseeing and growing the business and marketing aspects of the company and their products. Soon after Fincon released its first title, Hello Hero, Sean was introduced to the company by a former colleague. Since Sean was looking for something fun and different to do and Fincon was looking for someone whose business expertise could take Hello Hero global, working together was a natural development.
Before joining Fincon, Sean was fortunate to have been a part of the World Cyber Games (the Olympics of eSports) and to have worked at Neowiz games, a large Korean publisher. World Cyber Games brought pro-gamers from 70 countries together through the power of gaming and gave Sean insight into what people love about games. Past experience working with Philips and MGM was also an advantage, providing Sean with a strong base for working with Fincon partners at Apple, Google and Facebook.
The Best Industry Ever
Sean believes the games industry is the best industry ever, saying, “Getting to make games people love and playing alongside them is a beautiful thing.” Fincon has an incredible team of developers that have created a game enjoyed all over the world. Sean particularly enjoys being able to meet the people from around the globe who enjoy the game while still in the South Korea office, playing alongside them and getting a sense of what their lives are like.
While interpreting for the French media team at the first World Cyber Games in Korea, Sean was introduced to the games industry. “It was a shock to my system,” Sean relates. “All around me I was surrounded by laughter and smiling faces, screams of excitement from the crowds, and this incredible, almost tangible energy in the air – I was instantly hooked. It was at that moment I knew I had to pursue a career in gaming. What better job than one that surrounds you with happy people?”
Extending the Focus Outward
When describing the inspiration for a career in the games industry, Sean points out that Korea is a relatively young country, but one that has already done well for itself, having built in only a short time infrastructure, pop culture and technology. Despite this growth in competency and culture, Korean companies, with notable exceptions such as Samsung and LG, tend to operate in a bubble. Sean is determined to extend their focus outward, building a brand that takes the best they can offer to make something enjoyed around the world. Fincon is the opportunity to make this dream a reality.
But Sean admits that everything has been a challenge; there is no coasting or relaxing for a new company. And not only was the company new, so were the game, the market, the mobile platform and the service. There was no existing user base, no partners to work with, no marketing budget and no platform to promote the game. What they did have was a great game and a great development team. They are still facing challenges every day, but they are now in a much better position to handle them than they were four years ago.
Meeting the Challenges of a New Company
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The first step Sean took toward meeting these challenges was growing the community base by opening a Hello Hero Facebook fan page. They began posting information about the game and characters and holding engagement events. Little by little the number of fans started growing until now the community has reached 4.2 million fans.
Sean also began contacting Facebook, Apple and Google, sharing plans for the game. While it took some time to convince these companies that they were serious and capable of succeeding with what they were doing, it has been worth it as the company and game caught their attention. Fincon has recently been recognized as Facebook’s ‘2015 Studio To Watch’, GooglePlay’s ‘Top Developer’ and ‘Best of 2015’ from the App Store.
While developing the service end of the company through growing the business, monitoring in-game chats and overseeing the community, Sean was chronically short of sleep! And, as the only English-speaking person in the company at the time, Sean found relaying the wants and needs of the global players to the team another constant challenge. Fortunately, as the company has grown and more talented people have joined them, the job has become easier.
Interestingly, despite the more well-known awards Fincon has received, Sean relates that the achievement which brings the most pride was when Hello Hero reached #1 grossing in Moldova. “Frankly speaking, I didn’t know where in the world Moldova was, but for me, hitting that #1 spot in a country other than Korea was pretty exciting.”
Setting Trends in Mobile Gaming
Fincon has been something of a trend-setter in the games industry in Korea. They were the first company to launch mobile turn-based RPG and they pioneered interplay between mobile, PC and Smart TV as a cross-platform RPG. They were one of the first Korean companies to aim at the global market. And, with Angel Stone, they have brought in innovative control systems and introduced real-time party play into the mobile space.
Sean believes that, as the infrastructure continues to improve globally and smartphones are increasingly available, mobile games will continue to grow. But the massive in-flow of new games means the market will be increasingly competitive.
However, Sean emphasizes that focusing on whatever is ‘trendy’ is a mistake. With their first two games, Fincon concentrated simply on delivering quality. Innovation will come as a function of improvement or as a solution to problems. For the future, Fincon plans to develop within the RGP genre since, as Sean says, “It’s pretty much embedded into our DNA.”
The marketing strategy at Fincon is varied with a number of different solutions they choose from. One of the most effective strategies has been Facebook ads; they have the advantage of easy accessibility and high engagement.
Exploration and Opportunities
The culture at Fincon deliberately encourages seeing changes in technology as opportunities rather than obstacles. With some of the best server, client, art and environment teams, they work constantly with their partners (engine and platforms) to incorporate new technologies in their beta stages. They encourage exploration as a function of growth; people become excited when they share a planned new feature or update and what it could mean for development.
The beginning of creativity, according to Sean, lies in putting yourself in the position of a gamer constantly. One of the most important elements to servicing their games is having everyone at the company playing the games they are making. If they ever think “this is a hassle” or “I wish I could do this instead”, it is time to discuss it, and some of the best ideas have been shared in impromptu morning meetings. “More likely than not, if you’ve found something that you think would be cool in the game or that you wish you could change, many of the other players have had the same thought. Take it from there with an open mind and see how it plays out.”
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