Solo Leveling: Arise takes top prize at 2024 Korea Game Awards

Solo Leveling: Arise won the grand prize at the 2024 Korea Game Awards, praised for its innovative approach and financial success for Netmarble.

Solo Leveling: Arise won the grand prize at the Korea Game Awards 2024. [NETMARBLE]

Solo Leveling: Arise won the grand prize at the 2024 Korea Game Awards.

The mobile-desktop crossplay title, published by Netmarble and developed by its subsidiary Netmarble Neo, won the top award Wednesday at the Bexco convention center in Busan.

The game is based on the hit web novel "Solo Leveling" and launched globally on May 8.

Solo Leveling: Arise “did not just rely on the popularity of the original franchise but went through a complete reinterpretation that managed to mutually bring gamers and webtoon readers together,” the awarding committee said in a press release.

The game was also praised for its potential to expand into a wider universe as a franchise and for the fact that it had “raised the status of Korean webtoons and increased the possibility of the development of more webtoon-based games.”

The grand prize is scored 20 percent by public vote, 20 percent by expert votes and 60 percent by a panel of judges.

Solo Leveling: Arise brought also brought financial success to Netmarble: The game accounted for 13 percent of its third quarter revenue.

The Excellence Award went to Stellar Blade, published by Shift Up. The game, which launched on PC and PlayStation 5 on April 26, received positive reception among overseas gamers. The Popular Game Award, chosen through user votes, also went to Stellar Blade.

The Best Game awards went to Road Nine, Trickal Re:Vive and The First Descendant.

The announcement came a day before Thursday's opening of G-Star 2024, organized by the Korea Association of Game Industry (K-Games).

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]