South Korean game companies are expected to unveil major new titles, including console action games, at the Summer Game Fest 2025. The United States’ biggest gaming event of the summer will kick off this week.

According to multiple sources from the gaming industry on Tuesday, more than 60 game companies from around the world are set to participate in the Summer Game Fest, which opens on Friday. Major Korean game companies, including Nexon Korea Corp., Netmarble Corp., NCSoft Corp., and Pearl Abyss Corp., have confirmed their attendance.

Summer Game Fest is considered a major showcase for game developers to debut new footage, thus drawing significant attention in North America and beyond.

Pearl Abyss will participate in the Summer Game Fest with its highly anticipated title, “Crimson Desert,” which is scheduled for release later in 2025.

Crimson Desert is an open-world action game that allows players explore a vast continent and engage in dynamic battles. After more than seven years in development, the game has already received praise from international players for its high-end graphics - rendered with Pearl Abyss’ in-house engine - and cinematic presentation combined with a detailed combat system.

Given that Summer Game Fest is a North American event, Korean developers are highlighting console titles that target Western players. Unlike their traditional focus on massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), they are now aiming to break genre boundaries and appeal to global tastes.

Nexon, for example, will showcase content related to Season 3 of its console game “The First Descendant,” which debuted in 2024. Although the looter-shooter genre is relatively unfamiliar in Korea, the game was tailored for North American audiences and topped sales charts in the United States and France on its release day - demonstrating its potential.

Neowiz will present new content for “Lies of P,” a rare Korean title in the Soulslike genre. Netmarble will debut characters from its upcoming action role-playing game “Star Dive: Mongil.”

Meanwhile, NCSoft and Kakao Games Corp., whose revenue is still heavily domestic, are expected to reveal new titles aimed at expanding into the North American market.

According to global games market research firm Newzoo, the U.S. gaming market’s revenue for 2024 totaled around $46.1 billion to account for 24.6 percent of the global market - second only to China’s 25 percent.

While Korean game companies have traditionally focused on China and other Asian markets, they are now increasingly investing in North America and Europe via console-focused titles.

Expanding into the North American market is now seen as essential for further growth. This shift is reflected in the increased participation: while only around three Korean companies took part in the Summer Game Fest in 2024, that number has more than doubled in 2025.

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