New massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) from South Korean developers have achieved early success in 2025 to date, claiming the top spots in mobile app store sales rankings.

According to Mobile Index by IGAWorks on Wednesday, three of the top five grossing games on the Google Play Store were MMORPGs, including “Lineage M” (1st), “Mabinogi Mobile” (3rd), and “RF Online Next” (5th). On Apple’s App Store, “Mabinogi Mobile” (1st), “Lineage M” (2nd), “Last War: Survival” (3rd), and “WOS: Whiteout Survival” (4th) ranked ahead of Chinese titles.

“Mabinogi Mobile,” released in March 2025 by Nexon, leveraged its popular intellectual property and differentiated content to drive strong user engagement. Netmarble’s “RF Online Next” is also climbing in popularity while NCSoft’s flagship “Lineage M” continues to perform steadily.

The genre, which allows large numbers of users to interact in real time, includes Korean classics like “MapleStory” and “Lineage.” However, some critics have expressed concern about the industry’s heavy reliance on MMORPGs, prompting developers to diversify their portfolios.

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