The Korea Game Awards (Korean대한민국 게임대상; RRDaehan Minguk geim daesang) is an annual South Korean awards ceremony that recognizes "individuals and businesses that have contributed to domestic game industry."[2] The ceremony is organized by the Korea Association of Game Industry (K-GAMES) and presented by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, The Electronic Times and The Sports Chosun in conjunction with the G-Star game trade fair held in Busan in November. It is the largest and most prestigious awards ceremony for games in the country, and has been held yearly since 1996.[3][4][5]

Korea Game Awards
Text logo
LocationBusan
CountrySouth Korea
Presented byMinistry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
The Electronic Times [ko]
The Sports Chosun [ko]
First awardedDecember 2, 1996; 27 years ago (1996-12-02)[1]

Winners are decided by a combination of judges, game experts and online votes.[6] The Grand Prize, given to the overall best game of the year (also called the President's Award)[7][8] has historically been won almost exclusively by PC games; 2004's Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders is the only console game to win the award.[9] However, in 2014, Blade for Kakao became the first mobile game to win,[10] and since then several mobile games have won the award.[4]

Winners of the Grand Prize (President's Award) edit

Year Game Genre Developer Ref.
1996 Pee & Gity 2: The Industrial Age Beat 'em up Family Production [1]
1997 Wangdo-ui Bimil Action-adventure Digital Dream Studios [11]
1998 Lineage MMORPG NCSoft [12]
1999 EZ2DJ Rhythm AmuseWorld [13]
2000 Fortress 2 Artillery CCR Inc [12]
2001 The War of Genesis III: Part 2 Tactical role-playing Softmax [14]
2002 Navy Field MMORTS SDEnterNet [12]
2003 Lineage II MMORPG NCSoft [7]
2004 Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders Hack and slash,
real-time tactics
Phantagram [9]
2005 Scions of Fate (Yulgang) MMORPG Mgame Corp [12]
2006 Granado Espada MMORPG IMC Games
2007 Alliance of Valiant Arms (A.V.A) First-person shooter Red Duck
2008 Aion: The Tower of Eternity MMORPG NCSoft
2009 Continent of the Ninth Seal (C9) MMORPG Webzen
2010 Vindictus (Mabinogi Heroes) MMORPG Nexon [8]
2011 TERA MMORPG Bluehole Studio [12]
2012 Blade & Soul MMORPG NCSoft [15]
2013 ArcheAge MMORPG XL Games [16]
2014 Blade for Kakao Action RPG Action Square [10]
2015 EvilBane: Rise of Ravens (Raven) Action RPG Netmarble [3]
2016 Heroes of Incredible Tales (HIT) Action RPG NAT Games [17]
2017 PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Battle royale PUBG Corporation [4]
2018 Black Desert Mobile MMORPG Pearl Abyss [18]
2019 Lost Ark MMORPG Smilegate RPG [6]
2020 V4 (Victory For) MMORPG NAT Games [19]
2021 Odin: Valhalla Rising MMORPG Lionheart Studio [20]
2022 Dungeon & Fighter Mobile Beat 'em up Nexon [21]
2023 Lies of P Action RPG Neowiz Games [22]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Ko, Doo-hyun (29 November 1996). "[단신] 문체부, 대한민국 만화문화/게임대상 수상작 발표". Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Global Game Exhibition (G-STAR)". Korea Association of Game Industry. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b Yoon, Sung-won (12 November 2015). "Netmarble's Raven sweeps 6 game awards". The Korea Times. Dongwha Enterprise. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Yoon, Sung-won (16 November 2017). "'PUBG' sweeps 6 prizes at Korea Game Awards". The Korea Times. Dongwha Enterprise. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  5. ^ Yoon, Sung-won (3 November 2020). "Vote is on to pick the best Korean game for 2020". Pulse. Maeil Business Newspaper. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b Lee, Yong-ik; Choi, Mira (14 November 2019). "Smilegate RPG's Lost Ark wins best prize at 2019 Korean Game Award". Pulse. Maeil Business Newspaper. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  7. ^ a b Baek, Byung-yeul (25 September 2019). "NCSOFT pinning high hopes on success of 'Lineage 2M'". The Korea Times. Dongwha Enterprise. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Mabinogi Heroes Chosen as Nation's Best Game of the Year". The Korea IT Times. Korea ET Times Media Group. 18 November 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  9. ^ a b "A History of Korean Gaming – 판타그램 Phantagram / 블루사이드 Blueside". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  10. ^ a b Yoon, Sung-won (20 November 2014). "Blade becomes first mobile title to win Korea's top game award". The Korea Times. Dongwha Enterprise. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  11. ^ "A History of Korean Gaming – 한겨레 정보통신 HIC Infocomm / 디지털드림스튜디오 Digital Dream Studios". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d e Ahn, Hye-ri (10 October 2012). "응답하라 '게임대상' 그 때 그 게임". ZDNet Korea (in Korean). Mega News. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  13. ^ "게임종합지원센터, 99 게임대상 수상작 선정". Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). 13 December 1999. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  14. ^ Won, Nak-yeon (19 December 2001). "[사람사람] 대한민국 게임대상 받은 소프트맥스사". Joins.com (in Korean). JoongAng Ilbo. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  15. ^ Brightman, James (14 February 2013). "NCsoft licenses Unreal Engine 4". GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  16. ^ Lefebvre, Eliot (13 November 2013). "ArcheAge wins big at Korea Game Awards". Engadget. Verizon Media. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  17. ^ Sohn, Ji-young (16 November 2016). "Nexon wins grand prize at 2016 Korea Game Awards". The Korea Herald. Herald Corporation. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  18. ^ Jun, Ji-hye (15 November 2018). "'Black Desert Mobile' wins grand prize at Korea Game Awards". The Korea Times. Dongwha Enterprise. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Korea's biggest game show G-Star 2020 kicks off, Nexon V4 wins Game of Year Award". Pulse. Maeil Business Newspaper. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  20. ^ 한혜원 (2021-11-17). "'오딘: 발할라라이징', 2021 대한민국 게임대상 4관왕". 연합뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  21. ^ 김주환 (2022-11-16). "2022 대한민국 게임대상에 넥슨 '던전앤파이터 모바일'". 연합뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  22. ^ 김주환 (2023-11-15). "네오위즈 'P의 거짓', 대한민국 게임대상서 대상 포함 6관왕(종합)". 연합뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-12-20.