Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

Objectives: This study was aimed at extracting and proposing a narrative grammar that the South Korean online game industry would do well to take on strategically, in the context of a comparative analysis of storytelling in globally successful games. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The study set “globalization” as a key word for the industry’s current challenge, based on the view that this crisis in the game industry can be seized as an opportunity. As a method for comparative analysis, this study examined how the “hero narrative,” which is the most classical story archetype, is applied in game stories. Findings: The South Koran game industry has not fully understood the importance of storytelling, as it has focused on technology-centered production contexts, such as videos and graphics. Particularly, South Korean games focused on MMORPG share a trend in which there is a setting but not a drama. They only have settings in terms of basic elements, such as historical background, space, and characters, but no drama structure that develops conflict, confrontation, depth, and resolution. The study developed a globalization strategy for the global competitiveness of the South Korean online game market by approaching the optimization strategy of online game storytelling from four angles, namely “convergence,” divergence,” extension,” and “sharing”. To develop South Korean online games, professional writers specializing in game scenarios should be cultivated. Cultivation of competent writers who can develop scenarios that harmonize locality and universality via extension and sharing, beyond convergence and divergence, will be the only strategy to sustain export of the South Korean online game industry. Application/Improvements: Particularly in the current saturated market, stories with high completeness are in demand. This is the academic background to the problem of developing South Korea’s own creative narrative strategy in order to improve the completeness of stories, which will help to create new markets, and also to acquire global competitiveness. 

Keywords: Developing standards, Globalizing, Narrative Strategies, Online Game, Storytelling