Nexon, NCSoft, Smilegate and Netmarble Turn Out in Force to Target Japan, the Home of Subculture [1-Day IT Item]

[Financial News] South Korean game companies are flocking to Japan, the home of subculture. Nexon, NCSoft, Netmarble and Smilegate will showcase a large number of new subculture titles at Tokyo Game Show (TGS) 2026, which opens on the 17th, as they seek to make inroads into the Japanese market. As Korean game companies increasingly choose overseas game shows as the first venues for unveiling new titles, the contrast with G-Star, the country’s largest game exhibition scheduled for November, is becoming increasingly clear.
According to the game industry and the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA) on the 17th, TGS 2026, Japan’s largest game exhibition, opens that day at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture. This year’s event will feature 1,138 companies from 53 countries worldwide, making it the largest in the show’s history.
TGS has rapidly grown into one of the world’s three major game events by emphasizing a subculture theme. In fact, 598 overseas companies are participating this year, more than the 540 Japanese companies attending. Many of the new games to be unveiled by around 40 Korean game companies are also in the subculture genre. The companies focused on alluring characters, creative stories and distinctive world-building, refining the games’ quality until the final stages before the exhibition.
Nexon will present the first playable build of its new female-character game FAREIDOLIA, created with Unreal Engine 5 (UE5). RX Studio under the IO Division of NEXON Games, the developer of Blue Archive—which achieved major success in Japan—is handling production, with the company aiming for another hit. Nexon will set up a booth recreating Tasogarekan, the office of the Revival Center that serves as the game’s main setting, along with a hands-on area for FAREIDOLIA. Mabinogi Mobile, developed by devCAT, will also be exhibited.
NCSoft will operate a dedicated booth for Astrae Oratio, a subculture role-playing game (RPG) developed by Dynamis One, and hold its first public demonstration. Visitors will be able to try a playable combat build featuring the story and battle system, allowing them to learn about the game’s world. A screening of a scenario covering the early part of the game will also be held. In addition, a promotional video (PV) titled “Prologue Digest,” featuring key scenes from the prologue, will be released through the game’s official channels.
Smilegate has prepared hands-on areas and merchandise events for two new titles: the collectible RPG Miresi: Invisible Future and the roguelite RPG Dead Account: Two Blue Flames. The company will screen an animation featuring the characters’ stories and present in-game cutscenes and actual gameplay footage through a large gate and light-emitting diode (LED) screens.
Netmarble will unveil the collectible RPG Pearl in Blue for the first time at TGS. Solo Leveling: KARMA, a quarter-view action game based on the popular Japanese manga of the same name, and the mobile game Shangri-La Frontier: The Seven Colossi will also be revealed.
Meanwhile, the position of G-Star, the country’s largest game exhibition scheduled for November, is being shaken as Korean game companies successively choose overseas events as venues for unveiling new titles. Major Chinese game companies, including HoYoverse, NetEase Joker Studio, Bilibili and Century Games, will participate, but some observers say the event has lost momentum because many Korean game companies are staying away.
An industry source said, “G-Star is held later than Gamescom in Germany and TGS in Japan, while participation by major global game companies is also low, causing users to lose interest. Unless G-Star undergoes sweeping changes, a decline in participation by Korean game companies appears inevitable.”


[email protected] Jang Min-kwon Reporter