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A History of Korean Gaming

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트리거소프트 Trigger Soft
Founded: December 1994 (team)
August 1995 (company)
Status: Taken over by Gravity (2005)
Key People:
President

First employee, director
Website: www.trigger.co.kr (offline)

Profile:

Kim Mun'gyu worked at one of the earliest Korean PC game developers, Family Production, on that company's first game Boksu Mujeong1, before leaving and founding the (initially) 2-man team Trigger Soft with employee no. 1 Jeong Musik. Lacking a programmer, they produced their first couple of games in cooperation with other companies: At first they helped out with the graphics part on SiEn Art's Into the Sun, then a company called EST Soft helped out with their own Last Laibers. The first big success, however, that put the company on everyone's radar, was War Diary, an RTS based around the Japanese invasions into Korea at the end of the 16th century. Their partner this time was the indie developer HQ Team, which eventually became the other poster child for Korean RTS games2.

After more successes with above-average attention from overseas publishers, the company seemed to have stumbled over the gap to the MMO market. Its first online game, Rhakmu, was shut down after a short open beta phase, and while developing Rose Online, it was absorbed by the games publisher, Gravity, in May 20053.

Jeong Musik was also the co-founder of the Korea Game Developers Association (KGDA), from September 2000 until today the longest-living association of Korean game developers that also hosts the Korean Game Conference since 2001, and became its first chairman4. He left Trigger Soft in 2003 for NC Soft, and switched companies once again in 2006, when he co-founded Gorilla Banana with CEO Kim Chanjun, where he is developing Red Blood5.

President Kim Mun'gyu's immediate future unfortunately seems to have been not so bright. In 2006 he appeared as the CEO of a company called Digmsoft6, which vanished without having released anything. There couldn't be found a trace of his activities after that.


Games:

Into the Sun (인투더썬): Projected Distruction - PC-DOS (July 1995)


Into the Sun

As their first project, Trigger Soft provided the graphics for this SiEn Art game.



Into the Sun

라스트레이버즈 (Last Laibers) - PC-DOS (February 1996)


Last Laibers

Last Laibers

Last Laibers


Cover

There is no description for this game yet. If you happen to own/have played it and want to contribute, please get in touch on the forums.



Last Laibers

Last Laibers

Last Laibers

충무공전 (Chung Mugong-jeon) / War Diary - PC-DOS (June 1996)


War Diary

War Diary


European cover

There is no description for this game yet. If you happen to own/have played it and want to contribute, please get in touch on the forums.



War Diary

War Diary

패닉 솔져 (Panic Soldier) - PC-DOS (November 1996)


Panic Soldier

Panic Soldier


European Cover

There is no description for this game yet. If you happen to own/have played it and want to contribute, please get in touch on the forums.



Panic Soldier

Panic Soldier

장보고전 (Jang Bogo-jeon) - Windows (March 20th, 1998)


Jang Bogo-jeon

There is no description for this game yet. If you happen to own/have played it and want to contribute, please get in touch on the forums.



Jang Bogo-jeon

퇴마전설 (Toema Jeonseol) / Legend of Ghost Hunter / Legend of TeMa / Blood Aria / Akuma: Demon Spawn / Lamentation Sword - Windows (September 20th, 1998)


Toema Jeonseol

Toema Jeonseol


Cover

There is no description for this game yet. If you happen to own/have played it and want to contribute, please get in touch on the forums.



Toema Jeonseol

Toema Jeonseol

보스 1999 (Boss 1999) - Windows (November 1998)


Boss

Boss


Budget release cover

There is no description for this game yet. If you happen to own/have played it and want to contribute, please get in touch on the forums.



Boss

Boss

충무공전2 (Chung Mugong-jeon II) - Windows (June 12th, 1999)


Chung Mugong-jeon II

Chung Mugong-jeon II

Chung Mugong-jeon II


Cover

There is no description for this game yet. If you happen to own/have played it and want to contribute, please get in touch on the forums.



Chung Mugong-jeon II

Chung Mugong-jeon II

Chung Mugong-jeon II

퇴마전설2 (Toema Jeonseol 2) / Blood Aria 2 - Windows (May 18th, 2001)


Toema Jeonseol 2

Toema Jeonseol 2


Korean Cover

There is no description for this game yet. If you happen to own/have played it and want to contribute, please get in touch on the forums.


Russian Cover



Toema Jeonseol 2

Toema Jeonseol 2

태조왕건 ~제국의 아침~ (Taejo Wang Geon: Jeguk-ui Achim) - Windows (November 23rd, 2001)


Taejo Wang Geon: Jeguk-ui Achim

Taejo Wang Geon: Jeguk-ui Achim


Cover

There is no description for this game yet. If you happen to own/have played it and want to contribute, please get in touch on the forums.



Taejo Wang Geon: Jeguk-ui Achim

Taejo Wang Geon: Jeguk-ui Achim

라크무: 영광의 땅 (Rhakmu: Yeonggwang-ui Ttang) - Windows (April 10th, 2003 [open beta])


Rhakmu

Rhakmu


Artwork

There is no description for this game yet. If you happen to own/have played it and want to contribute, please get in touch on the forums.



Rhakmu

Rhakmu

로즈온라인 (Rose Online) - Windows (September 15th, 2004 [open beta]; January 20th, 2005)


Rose Online

Rose Online


Artwork

There is no description for this game yet. If you happen to own/have played it and want to contribute, please get in touch on the forums.



Rose Online

Rose Online

Unreleased Titles:

Eternos Stone (1995)

카오스 (Chaos) (1999-2000)

References
1. PC Power Zine 6/1999, page 270
2. http://www.gamespot.co.kr/ArticleView.asp?artice_id=00000010014832
3. http://news.inews24.com/php/news_view.php?g_menu=020500&g_serial=150267
4. http://www.kgda.or.kr/html/intro02.php
5. http://www.khgames.co.kr/week_11/main_content.htm?mCode=813191101284107&sCode=4865781101284240&idx=1751&code=w_special
6. http://www.gamejob.co.kr/List_GI/GI_Info_Read.asp?C_ID=digmsoft&Search_Info=F&Search_Loc=%B0%B3%C0%CE%BB%E7%BE%F7%C0%DA


A History of Korean Gaming

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Table of Contents

HG101 Index