Smilegate
Smilegate is a South Korean video game developer and publisher, which develops, publishes and services mobile and PC online games. It has five core business sectors: game development, publishing, platform, investment and social contribution. Established in Korea in 2002,[2] it is the creator of Crossfire, an FPS game with over six million concurrent players across the globe,[3] and many more distinguished titles.[4]
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Industry | Video games |
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Founded | June 2002 in Seoul, South Korea |
Founder | Kwon Hyuk-Bin |
Headquarters | , |
Owner | Kwon Hyuk-Bin (100%)[1] |
Number of employees | ~1,200 |
Subsidiaries | Smilegate Holdings (HQ) Smilegate Worldwide Smilegate Entertainment Smilegate Megalab Smilegate RPG Smilegate Megaport Smilegate Investment Smilegate Stove Smilegate West |
Website | www |
They are also the creators of online anime gacha game Epic Seven.
History
Smilegate was selected as recipient of the Excellence Award, ETRI IDC in 2003. Smilegate began developing Online FPS Crossfire in 2006 and launched Crossfire in China and Japan the next year.[5] In 2009 recorded 1 million peak concurrent users in China, and 0.1 million peak concurrent users in Vietnam. Over the following years Smilegate earned numerous awards.[6][7][8][9]In 2014 Smilegate invested $112 million in casual gaming company SUNDAYTOZ.[10] Smilegate Megaport launched Mobile Service Platform 'STOVE' in June 2015.[11] Smilegate is teaming up with Hollywood production company 'Original Film' for the big screen adaptation of its mega-hit shooting game “Crossfire.”[12] Smilegate Entertainment has signed a $500 million exclusive publishing agreement with Oriental Shiny Star for the upcoming “Crossfire 2” online shooting game in China.[13]
In 2017, to serve Crossfire further in the European market, a new office was opened in Berlin, Germany.[14] This office was closed in April 2018, as part of a company-wide restructuring process and all games operations were moved back to Smilegate West in Toronto.[15]
In July 2021, Smilegate made an investment of $100 million into startup developer That's No Moon formed by veterans of Naughty Dog and Infinity Ward.[16]
Games
These are the games developed or published by Smilegate. Publisher and release dates are for South Korea unless otherwise noted.
Year | Game | Developer(s) | Publisher(s) | Genre | Platform |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | TalesRunner | Rhaon Entertainment | Smilegate Megaport | Action | Microsoft Windows |
2007 | Crossfire | Smilegate Entertainment | Smilegate Tencent (China), Lytogame (Indonesia) |
FPS | |
2010 | ProBaseball Manager Online | Sega | Smilegate Megaport | Sports | Mobile |
2011 | Freestyle2: Street Basketball | JoyCity | JoyCity (US), Smilegate Megaport (South Korea) |
Sports | Microsoft Windowos |
2012 | MVP baseball online | Smilegate Entertainment (South Korea) | Sports | Microsoft Windows | |
2013 | Devil Maker: Tokyo | Ncrew Entertainment | Smilegate Megaport | RPG | Mobile |
Eastern Blade | Smilegate Megaport | ||||
2014 | Qurare: Magic Library | Palmple, iO Studio | RPG | Mobile, PlayStation 4 (2016) | |
2015 | Dragon Fate | Lion Games Studios | Smilegate Entertainment | RPG | Mobile |
Bunnypang | Smilegate | Smilegate Megaport | Action | Mobile | |
AZERA | Timber Games | Smilegate Entertainment | MMORPG | Microsoft Windows | |
Crossfire: Mobile | Smilegate Entertainment | Smilegate Entertainment | FPS | Mobile | |
2017 | SoulWorker | Lion Games Studios | Smilegate Entertainment | MMORPG | Microsoft Windows |
Super Tank Rumble | Lumidia Games | Smilegate Entertainment | Action | Mobile | |
Epic Seven | SUPER CREATIVE | Smilegate Entertainment | RPG | ||
TAHN | Tencent Games | Smilegate Entertainment | FPS | ||
ChaosMasters | Neoact | Smilegate Entertainment | RPG | ||
WarReign | Red Sahara Studio | Smilegate Entertainment | RTS | ||
2018 | Arcane Straight | Gameplete | Smilegate Megaport | Card Battle RPG | |
Lost Ark | Smilegate RPG, Tripod Studio | Smilegate RPG | MMORPG | Microsoft Windows | |
2019 | ROGAN: The Thief in the Castle | Smilegate Entertainment | Smilegate Entertainment | Stealth Action Adventure | |
Final Assault | Phaser Lock Interactive | Smilegate Entertainment | RTS | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 | |
2020 | Crossfire: Zero | Smilegate Entertainment | Smilegate Entertainment | FPS | Microsoft Windows |
Crossfire: Warzone | JoyCity | Smilegate Entertainment | RTS | Mobile | |
2021 | Crossfire HD | Smilegate Entertainment | Tencent (China) | FPS | Microsoft Windows |
2022 | CrossfireX | Smilegate Entertainment, Remedy Entertainment | Smilegate | FPS | Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S |
Crossfire: Legion | Blackbird Interactive | Prime Matter | Real-time strategy | Microsoft Windows | |
2023 | Crossfire: Sierra Squad | Smilegate Entertainment | Smilegate Entertainment | FPS | PlayStation 5 |
TBA | SkySaga: Infinite Isles | Radiant Worlds | Smilegate Entertainment | Sandbox MMORPG | Microsoft Windows |
References
- Chung, Grace. "Online Hit Game CrossFire Mints South Korea's Richest Self-Made Billionaire". Forbes.
- Yoon Sung-won. "Smilegate vows to revitalize online game sector". Korea times. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
- Lee Ji-yoon. "[Herald Interview] The woman behind success of 'Crossfire'". Korea herald. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
- hatake. "Cross Fire Developer SmileGate Takes Four New Games to Gstar 2014". mmosite.com. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
- Lee Ji-yoon. "[Herald Interview] The woman behind success of 'Crossfire'". Korea herald. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
- Seo Jeong-geun. "Neowiz Games and 2 billion Export Tower Award". dt.co.kr. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
- Huh. "Cross Fire, Tears of the Antarctic, Deep Rooted Tree, Chief Content 'tall'". inews24.com. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
- Paul Tassi. "CrossFire: Tencent's Top Earning Free-to-Play Game You've Never Heard Of". Forbes. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
- Yoon Sung-won. "Smilegate to expand startup support". Korea Times. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
- Steven Millward. "A clash of gaming worlds as Crossfire maker invests $112 million in casual gaming company". techinasia.com. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
- Cho Jin-young. "Mobile Gaming Industry Waging Platform War". businesskorea.co.kr. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
- Lee Ji-yoon. "Korea's mega-hit game 'Crossfire' goes Hollywood". Korea herald. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
- PR Newswire. "Qihoo 360's Joint Venture Signs Exclusive License Agreement for Cross Fire 2 in China". nasdaq. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- "Smilegate opens European office to push Crossfire". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
- "Smilegate to close Berlin office just over a year after it opened". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
- "Why Smilegate poured $100m into That's No Moon and its AAA veterans".