Smilegate STOVE Indie Unveils 2023 Infographics for Growth with Creato… 2024-03-05

■ Over 1,000 titles released, with RPGs recording the longest play time

■ Three-digit increase in number of creator teams, total payment, number of teams participating in support programs, and user playtime

On the 21st (Wed.), STOVE Indie, an independent game platform operated by Smilegate STOVE, unveiled infographics showing its footsteps in 2023, a year when it achieved rapid growth. 

STOVE Indie, which has provided service for five years, is the only independent game platform operated by a Korean game company. STOVE Indie is highly regarded in the independent game industry because it has played the role of a trustworthy partner for independent game developers by providing them with assistance, from mentoring in the initial stage of game development to post-development marketing, in addition to support for game production, distribution and promotion. Having achieved remarkable growth together with its creators, STOVE Indie unveiled the infographics showing its records in 2023, during which it established itself as a partner for independent game developers. 

<STOVE Indie Releases 1,000 Titles!> 

When it opened in 2019, STOVE Indie had only four games on its platform. In 2022, games released through STOVE Indie Korean localization, such as Naheulbeuk’s Dungeon Master, Tale of Immortal, etc., and visual novels such as Love in Login, started going viral among users. 

In 2023, a greater variety of games started to draw attention. In addition to excellent independent Korean games, such as Staffer Case and Leap in Bootstrap, STOVE Korean-localized games including God of Weapons, You and Me and Her: A Love Story, Volcano Princess, and more added to the diversity of games. 

The platform also passed a notable milestone. With STOVE Indie’s various creator support programs for independent developers, the number of titles released on the platform exceeded 1,000. The 1000th release on the STOVE Indie platform was Volcano Princess, a parenting-simulator game which has attracted users with its lovely artistic style. 

<STOVE Indie Growing with Creators>

The number of developers hoping to launch games on STOVE Indie has also increased. In 2023, the number of teams that released games through STOVE Indie increased by 215% year-on-year. In addition, the total payment to creator teams almost doubled.

STOVE Indie was able to achieve growth together with creators because of its various creator support programs. STOVE Indie operates a range of independent game creation support programs including Funding Pack, which supports game developers that are preparing for cloud funding, and Indie Boost-Lab, which provides user feedback to game developers. Recently, it launched Creator Growth Tutorial, a workshop program that supports the growth of independent game creators from the development and launch of high-quality games to business establishment and growth. The number of teams participating in STOVE Indie’s various support programs, which have received great responses from (aspiring) creators, recorded growth as high as 352%.

In addition, STOVE Indie provides support in administrative processes for game reviews so that independent game developers can focus solely on game development. In 2023, 568 games received review support from STOVE Indie, an increase of 205% from the previous year. Over the course of the past year, STOVE Indie also supported content marketing, achieving 3.8 million views together with 36 partner creators.

<Independent Games Growing with Users> 

As STOVE Indie grows with its creators, its number of users is also increasing. In 2023 alone, STOVE Indie recorded over 400,000 new members and 1.6 million visiting users. Following active marketing by STOVE Indie in an effort to repay user support, the number of coupons used by users in 2023 almost quadrupled (increase of 380%) year-on-year, and the benefits provided through the coupons (total) increased by 263%.

By enticing creators to launch games on the platform through support programs, securing STOVE Korean-localized, STOVE only, and other competitive titles, and performing user-friendly promotional activities, STOVE Indie saw its game purchases more than triple from the previous year. In addition, the game play time of users almost doubled.

Smilegate STOVE Indie Director Yeo Seung-hwan said, “In 2023, STOVE Indie achieved further growth and received love from both creators and users. This year, we will continue to make our utmost efforts and offer helpful support so that we can grow together with a greater number of creators as they provide our users with high-quality games and services on the platform.”

Details of the 2023 STOVE Indie Infographics ▶ https://newsroom.smilegate.com/eng/1709606960

STOVE Indie ▶ https://store.onstove.com/en