K2 Network, Inc. Q&A with Paul Semel

By Paul Semel

Joshua Hong is the founder and CEO of K2 Network, Inc, who are bringing such popular Korean MMOS as “The Sword of the New World: Granado Espada” and “Knight Online” to America.

What prompted you to start K2?

I’ve done some other, rather corporate stuff — I worked at a consulting firm, and was briefly an investment banker — so I don’t really fit into the regular video game mold. I’m not even that much of a gamer. Having said that, though, I am enormously attracted to the whole convergence between media and the Internet, and wanted to get involved in it. I knew that music was kind of at the forefront of it, but I really just felt that, in terms of doing business and making money, gaming was the only entertainment venue that would be able to do it effectively.

You are bringing three fantasy MMOS to the U.S.: “Sword of the New World: Granado Espada,” “Knight Online,” and “Global MU Online.” What is the difference between them?

Well, “Knight Online” is a relatively older game, but the core concept of the game centers around PvP. And if you turn back the clock and look at the MMO space three years ago, Player Vs. Player was a relatively new concept, and “Knight Online,” which was based on that, did very well because of it.

“Global Mu” is sort of a granddaddy of MMOs. But we decided to get this title not because of the merits of the game — though the game is good — but because of Webzen, who are great developers. We wanted to work with Webzen, and because we’ve done “Global Mu,” we can now acquire future Webzen titles.

Finally, “The Sword Of The New World” is the title we want to be defined by. It is very different from other fantasy MMOs out in the West because of three reasons. First, it has multi-character control, so players can control three different characters at the same time. Second, each character has multiple stances, so while you’re character might be a Mage, they might also be able to fight like a Warrior. And third, it’s really based a lot more on history than it is traditional fantasy.

How do Korean MMOS typically differ from American ones?

I think the big thing is that if you wanted to, you could play [an American MMO] on your own, just doing different quests and minding your own business. But Korean MMOs are designed to be partied, you have to group with other people to level up faster, and they’re designed so that the fun doesn’t come from the game itself but from the people you’re playing with.

Besides the language, obviously, did you have to change anything else about the games before releasing them in the U.S.?

Absolutely. We had to change a lot of stuff. Like with “War Rock,” which is our tactical shooter MMO, we had to change the default controls because American FPS gamers are used to playing games like “Battlefield” and “Counterstrike” with a certain keyboard layout. But Koreans do it differently. In fact, a lot of Koreans don’t like using the keyboard, they’d rather play with just the mouse so they can free up their other hand to hold a cigarette. So when we brought “War Rock” to the U.S., we had to change the entire control system to mimic the American FPS control style.

Some would say that launching a new MMO at a time when “World of Warcraft” dominated so decisively is a big mistake.

They’re probably right. “World Of Warcraft” definitely set the bar much higher than it was a few years ago. But having said that, I think “World Of Warcraft” also raised awareness about MMOs and expanded the market for them, especially in the West. Like in Europe, nobody really played MMOs before “Warcraft,” but now that game is huge there.

But also, after playing “Warcraft” for a couple years, some people are starting to get bored with it, and will be starting to look for something new. Though any new MMO that comes along will have to be as good, if not better, than “Warcraft.”

One of the interesting things about “Knight Online” and “War Rock” is the Free2Play™ system, which means that the basic game is free but, if you want, you can pay for things like better weapons. is this a popular system in Korea?

Yes. It’s a system that was actually perfected by Koreans. It started when people noticed that a number of gamers just jumping from one beta test to another, and were just playing games for free, which was not good. So what they decided to do was make them like Freeware or Shareware, where people could play a game for free but they’d have to pay for things like special weapons or the ability to level up a lot quicker.

What percentage of people playing Free2Play™ games actually end up paying?

About 10 percent.

And you can make money if only 10% pay to play?

Yes because people who pay usually pay more than what you’d normally pay for a subscription because there’s no limit to what you can spend. If you’re paying $14 a month to play an MMO, then you’re only paying $14 a month. But in a Free2Play system, you can spend a lot more…if you want to. Some people spent $200 a month, $500 a month, even $800 a month.