gPotato

gPotato

Screenshot of gPotato.com's 2011 homepage
Type Video game portal
Owner Gala Inc.
Slogan(s) Let's Party
Website http://www.gPotato.kr
http://www.gPotato.jp
Registration Required
Users 21 million [1]
Available in 10 languages

gPotato is a free multiplayer game portal website operated in Japan and South Korea by Gala Inc. and its subsidiaries, and formerly in North America and Europe by subsidiaries of South Korean based Webzen. gPotato game portals are in South Korea and Japan. Games hosted at gPotato range from traditional MMORPGs to more accessible casual flash games/browser-based games, all of which are free-to-play so no annual/monthly payment is required; revenue is generated from a micropayment system. Games and their premium item shops can be accessed by the Group's regional gPotato portal sites.

gPotato games are aimed at a broad range of players. Gala Inc.'s corporate philosophy is to "connect people all over the world and by doing that, contribute to global peace."[2] With this in mind, the games published on gPotato portals have no blood in them and are appropriate for a wide age group of players.

gPotato in North America and Europe was previously operated by Gala Inc. In February 2013, Gala-Net, Gala Networks Europe and Gala-Net Brazil were acquired by Webzen.[3] In May 2014 the European and North American gPotato Web sites were merged into the Webzen.com portal.

Serviced Languages

Portal Languages Company Established
gPotato.jp Japanese Gala Japan Inc. 2006
gPotato.kr Korean Gala Lab Corp. 2010

gPotato Portals

The gPotato portal sites are serviced by Group companies of Gala Inc. in Japan and South Korea.

Community

As of September 2011, the global gPotato community has over 20 million registered members[1][5] playing on 18 games globally. As with all free-to-play games or gaming communities, the number of registered users has to be differentiated from:

There are no public numbers for unique, active, or paying users.

Portal Features

gPotato portals have a variety of features. Each gPotato portal is designed and maintained based on the cultural trends where that gPotato portal is serviced so the features vary on each gPotato portal site. In general, the portals offer:

gPotato Currency

The virtual currency is called gPotatoes. The gPotatoes can be used to obtain virtual game items via a premium item shop. Other users normally would not have access to these items or would have to spend more time in-game to obtain them. gPotatoes can be purchased using credit cards, PayPal, charging through the mobile phone, through gPotato pre-paid cards or through earning free gPotatoes by taking online surveys. Payment methods differ from each gPotato portal based on the regional payment options available.

Games

Games Developed

Title Developer Genre First Released
Flyff Gala Lab Client-based MMO 2002
Street Gears Gala Lab Client-based MMO 2007
Rappelz Gala Lab Client-based MMO 2006
Eternal Blade Gala Lab Client-based MMO 2010

Games Formerly Licensed

Title Developer Genre First Released
ROSE Online Triggersoft Client-based MMO 2005
Canaan Online XPEC Entertainment Browser-based MMO 2008
Prius Online CJ Corporation Client-based MMO 2008
TalesRunner Rhaon Entertainment Client-based MMO 2008
Castle of Heroes Snail Game Browser-based MMO 2009
Dragonica Gravity Games Side-scrolling MMO 2009
Luna Online Eya Soft Client-based MMO 2009
AIKA Online JoyImpact Client-based MMO 2010
Vandia Breaker Namco Bandai Browser-based MMO 2010
Allods Online Nival Client-based MMO 2010
Iris Online Eya Soft Client-based MMO 2010
KungFu Hero 9wee Browser-based MMO 2010
Terra Militaris Snail Game Browser-based MMO 2010
Age of Wulin Snail Game Client-based MMO Open Beta July 2013

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "オンラインゲームポータルサイト「gPotato」累計会員数 2,000 万人突破" (PDF) (in Japanese). Gala Inc. 29 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
  2. "Company: Corporate Philosophy". Gala Inc. Nov 2007. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
  3. "More about gPotato & Webzen". gPotato.eu. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  4. "Gala Lab history" (in Korean). Gala Lab Corp. June 2010. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
  5. "GALA Group to launch smartphone social game platform" (PDF). Gala Inc. 12 May 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-09.