From Netflix to idle RPGs, low-friction entertainment reshapes leisure in Korea




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Game usage in South Korea has fallen to its lowest level in a decade, signaling a major shift in how consumers spend their leisure time as watching-centered enter 사아다쿨 tainment increasingly crowds out interactive play.
According to a 2025 survey on game users jointly released by the Culture Ministry and the Korea Creative Content Agency, the overall game u 골드몽사이트 sage rate over the past year stood at 50.2 percent, a sharp 9.7 percentage point drop from the previous year. The data also reflected a compound annual contraction of 6.8 percent over the past five ye 게임몰릴게임 ars. The nationwide survey polled 10,000 respondents aged 10 to 69 who had played games at least once in the past year.
The drop marks the lowest point since data was first compiled in 2015. 릴게임한국 After averaging around 70 percent between 2015 and 2020, game usage surged to a pandemic-era high of 74 percent in 2022, before reversing course in the post-pandemic period. The rate fell into the lo 바다이야기슬롯 w 60s in 2023 and entered the 50-percent range for the first time ever in 2024.
Asked why they no longer play games, respondents most frequently cited lack of time (44 percent), followed by declining interest (36 percent) and the adoption of other hobbies (34.9 percent).
Those alternative pursuits skewed heavily toward passive, on-demand entertainment. 86.3 percent said they now spend more time watching streaming platforms, films, television or animation. Exercise-related activities (40.3 percent) and reading-centered leisure such as comics, webtoons and web novels (37.5 percent) also ranked highly.
Lee Cheol-woo, head of the Korean Game User Association and a lawyer specializing in gaming, said the fading of pandemic conditions is a key driver, but not the only one.
"The rise of alternative entertainment options such as Netflix and short-forms like reels play a big role," Lee said. A separate 2025 survey by the Korea Media and Communications Commission found that 81 percent of Koreans used streaming services last year, with adoption among people in their 40s reaching 98 percent.
Lee also noted a broader cultural shift in how audiences engage with games themselves.
"There’s a growing tendency to consume game culture by watching others play rather than playing firsthand," he said, citing livestreaming platforms and gaming content as substitutes for direct participation.
According to Lee, rising monetization has dampened enthusiasm for playing games. "Rising in-game costs and increasingly complex systems have also deterred players, pushing more consumers to watch games rather than play them."
Looking ahead, Lee said he expected the downward trend in game usage among Koreans to continue as leisure habits tilt toward what he describes as "low-commitment consumption."



MapleStory: Idle RPG (Nexon)


The broader market is already responding. A "lazy" gaming style that is slow-paced and less demanding has become a popular trend among gamers and publishers alike.
In December 2025, the game with the highest sales in mobile markets was MapleStory: Idle RPG, an idle role-playing game in the vastly popular Maple Story universe that is built around simplified gameplay and minimal interaction. In an idle RPG, characters progress automatically, engaging in combat and accumulating resources with minimal player involvement.
According to global market research firm Sensor Tower, in Korea, idle RPGs accounted for less than 2 percent of mobile RPG revenue as recently as 2020, but expanded their share to 16 percent in 2024. That figure places idle RPGs as the second-largest genre in Korea by revenue, trailing only massively multiplayer online role-playing games.