Leiden University Student Repository

Arslan, Ekin (2022)

K-Games in Europe: The overlooked potential of Hallyu

Bachelor thesis | Koreanstudies (BA)

Hallyu still charges forward as a new and evolved version of itself, dubbed Hallyu 2.0. Adapting to the digital world and expanding online, it is still increasing the spread of South Korean culture and the Soft Power of South Korea. One often overlooked sector of this phenomenon is the gaming sector. Despite being by far the most profitable sector, it falls behind music, dramas, movies and other categories when it comes to spread and impact, especially in Europe. This thesis aims to research this discrepancy in financial success and longevity in order to find out why Korean games are relatively unknown in Europe. Discoveries include bad reputation, lack of recognizable attributes, looked down upon mechanics in Korean games and the preferences of European players not being met. This work aims to open the door to future research about the topic.

Video games

South Korea

Hallyu

Soft Power

Europe

Author

Arslan, Ekin

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Supervisors

Jang, S.Y.

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en