Korean Gaming Documentary 'Save The Game' Chronicles Industry's Rise from Zero to Global Force
Netflix premiered a three-part documentary on December 29 that captures how South Korea built a gaming empire from nothing in just three decades.
'Save The Game,' directed by Park Yoonjin and supported by Nexon Foundation, tells the story of Korea's gaming industry through the voices of the people who lived it-from first-generation developers who created games in the 1980s when the country had no domestic gaming industry, to today's professional gamers and streamers who dominate global competitions.
Episode 1: The Beginning
The first installment focuses on gaming's early days in Korea during the 1980s and 1990s. Featured figures include Nam In-hwan, who developed 'The Legend of the Sword' in 1987 as a high school sophomore-Korea's first commercial game. Nam Sang-kyu created 'Fox Ranger,' the country's first 16-bit computer game.
Song Jae-kyung, now CEO of XL Games, discusses developing 'Kingdom Under Fire.' Seo Kwan-hee and Lee Won-sul from Sonnori share stories about creating 'Astonishia Story.' Jung Jae-sung, CEO of Mirinaesoft, recalls making 'The Day Will Come 3,' while Jung Hong-sik reflects on his work with the 1980s computer magazine 'Computer Hakseup.'
These developers worked when personal computers were just arriving in Korea. They created games out of pure passion, with minimal resources and no established industry to guide them.
Episode 2: The Online Revolution
'On The Line' examines how Korea's gaming industry exploded after high-speed internet infrastructure spread across the country in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The episode features Lee Jung-hun and Kang Dae-hyun from Nexon, alongside Kim Jin-man (early 'MapleStory' planner and art director), Kim Tae-gon ('Gersang' developer), and Choi Young-tae ('QPlay' development team leader).
Gaming journalists and content creators also appear, including Lim Sang-hoon (editor-in-chief of 'This Is Game'), Kang Min-jung (author of 'Millennial Memory Club'), and YouTuber 'Chicken at Night.'
The episode explores how text-based games evolved into graphically rich online worlds. It covers the PC cafe culture that made 'Lineage' a phenomenon and how 'MapleStory' became part of daily Korean life. One particularly moving segment details 'QPlay,' which entertained users for 16 years starting in 1999 with 'Quiz Quiz' before eventually shutting down.
Episode 3: Korean Gamer DNA
'Good Game (GG): How Korean Gamers Are Made' investigates what makes Korean gaming culture unique. Former 'StarCraft' pro gamer Jung Myung-hoon and 'KartRider' pro Moon Ho-jun share insights about competitive gaming. Streamers Haekjjini, Gwimakae, and Kim Jae-won discuss how gaming became mainstream entertainment.
With 70% of Korea's population playing games, the documentary examines the intensity and dedication that enabled Korean gamers to dominate global esports. It explores how a country with no gaming history 30 years ago produced players who now lead worldwide competitions.
Director's Background
Park Yoonjin previously directed 'People in Elancia' (2020), a documentary about players who remained loyal to Nexon's aging RPG 'Elancia' even after the company stopped updating it. That film earned the Independent Film Support Award at the 41st Korean Film Critics Association Awards and won multiple festival honors.
The new project took three years to complete. Park and her team interviewed dozens of developers, planners, journalists, users, and professors. Limited documentation from early Korean gaming presented major challenges-many pioneering moments weren't recorded. The production team tracked down former industry members and captured insights from current leaders.
Festival Success
Before its Netflix release, Episode 1 premiered at the 29th Busan International Film Festival in October 2024. This marked the first gaming documentary screened at BIFF since the festival began in 1996. All three screenings sold out completely.
Festival viewers, including industry professionals and gaming enthusiasts, praised the work for documenting an overlooked chapter of Korean cultural history. Post-screening discussions turned into memory-sharing sessions, with audiences recounting their own gaming experiences.
Why This Matters Now
Nexon Foundation Chair Kim Jung-wook explained the project's purpose at a G-Star 2024 preview screening: "We wanted to record the footprints and traces of those who built Korea's gaming industry, and we hope these records become history."
The timing is significant. Korea compressed gaming's birth, explosive growth, and maturation into roughly one generation. Many first-generation developers are still active, but their stories needed documentation before memories fade and pioneers retire.
The late Kim Jung-joo, Nexon's founder who passed away in February 2022, couldn't be interviewed for the project-a loss the production team noted as deeply regrettable given his pivotal role in Korean gaming history.
Production Details
Side Mirror handled planning and production. Bareunson E&A distributed the documentary. Nexon Foundation provided support as part of its mission to promote gaming culture and IT-based social contribution.
The trilogy currently streams exclusively on Netflix, with plans to expand to additional platforms. The documentary includes archival footage of classic games, floppy disks, CRT monitors, and other artifacts from gaming's analog-to-digital transition. Background visuals feature posters from era-defining titles including 'Elancia,' 'The Day Will Come,' 'War of Genesis,' 'The Legend of the Sword,' 'Kingdom of the Winds,' and 'Tales Weaver.'
'Save The Game' stands as Korea's first comprehensive audiovisual record of its gaming industry-a tribute to pioneers and an archive for future generations wondering how their country became a global gaming power.
