On March 12, 2025, Virtuos, a leading video game development company, announced the launch of its studio in Seoul, South Korea, and it will be led by Seunghwan “Sean” Yoon, who brings 20 years of experience in the games industry.
Following this news, we contacted Virtuos and Sean Yoon for an interview and asked about his goals and the state of the gaming industry in South Korea.
Can you share key milestones in your career that have prepared you for your role as General Manager of Virtuos Seoul?
In 2025, I started my games industry career in the publishing of free-to-play games. The company I was in specialized in licensing free-to-play PC games from Korea and releasing them to global audiences. At that time, high-quality free-to-play games were hard to find, so I gained valuable experience in collaborating with both Korean game developers and global teams.
Later, as Managing Director at Webzen, I deepened my understanding of how Korean game companies operate and my ability to foster teamwork. Subsequently, as a senior producer at Kabam and an executive producer at Mythical Games, I honed my skills in game production.
In summary, I’ve contributed to over 20 Korean game projects, helping them succeed worldwide. The experience I accumulated enabled me to work effectively with Korean clients and games. And because I’ve worked in both the production and business sides of the industry, I can connect these two areas of expertise to achieve stronger results.
What makes the South Korean gaming market significant to Virtuos, and how does it fit into the company’s global strategy?
South Korea has and continues to be a top gaming market in the world, currently ranking fourth among the top 100 countries in-game revenues according to Newzoo’s Global Games Market Data in 2024.
While the Korean games industry has been primarily focused on mobile games for over a decade, it is now gaining recognition for producing high-quality console games like Lies of P and Stellar Blade. The industry is rapidly expanding its presence in global markets as such.
Since 2009, Virtuos has had the privilege of collaborating with Korean game studios on iconic titles such as Crossfire, Dave the Diver, PUBG, and Stellar Blade. These ongoing partnerships and our recent Seoul studio announcement underscore our commitment to addressing South Korea’s unique cultural and market needs while facilitating robust collaboration between Korean clients and Virtuos’ global production teams more effectively.
This approach aligns with Virtuos’ goal of becoming a glocalized game development powerhouse, in which we integrate local insights with global capabilities to help create superior experiences for gamers. We are dedicated to working even more closely with Korean game companies and achieving greater success together, both in the market and worldwide.
What are Virtuos Seoul’s primary goals in its early years, and how do you envision its growth?
Our primary goal is to help Korean clients reach larger audiences. We look to expand our involvement in full and co-development projects, take on more game design and creative scopes of work, and overall, support the creation of new and immersive gameplay experiences. We are therefore actively hiring to expand our core team with talent in technical art and game design.
Can you share how Virtuos Seoul will operate? Will it function independently or collaborate closely with other Virtuos studios on game development projects?
All Virtuos studios, including Virtuos Seoul, participate in knowledge sharing and collaborate closely on projects depending on the scope of work required. After all, it is no secret that games have become a lot bigger, more complex, and time-intensive to produce. Virtuos Seoul plays a strategic role as a hub between Korean game makers and Virtuos’ global production teams.
With a veteran Development Director, Design Director, and Executive Producer based locally in Seoul, our team is well-equipped to initiate, discuss, and consult on creative game opportunities with clients from the earliest stages.
Following which, Virtuos Seoul serves as a conduit between Korean developers and our production teams in 25 offices worldwide to bring games to life.
How will Virtuos Seoul support South Korean developers in reaching international markets, and what sets Virtuos apart from other studios?
We aim to help South Korean developers achieve a faster and more effective time-to-market and audience expansion by leveraging the know-how we have accumulated over 20 years of working on core content production for 1,500+ games across all genres and platforms—console, PC, and mobile.
Our clients in Korea can expect seamless communication and production process with Virtuos Seoul while effectively accessing a full range of expertise.
How we achieve this is from our operating model. Virtuos operates as one team of 4,200 members with diverse skill sets and cultural backgrounds based in 25 locations across Asia, Europe, and North America.
Regardless of the Virtuos studio that a client is in contact with, they can expect a smooth partnership experience with all participating Virtuos studios. Operating at this global scale enables us to cover the full range of game development services that a client might need while ensuring that our workforce is diverse and equipped with cultural nuances and perspectives.
What drives your passion for the gaming industry, and what are your long-term aspirations for Virtuos Seoul?
The games industry is very passion-driven, and similarly, at Virtuos, everyone is passionate about what we do. I love collaborating with passionate people. Their energy and hard work spark ideas and make achieving great results even more enjoyable.
Looking ahead to the long-term vision for Virtuos Seoul, I aspire to see the games we help co-develop or fully develop with Korean developers receive recognition globally and go on to become Game of the Year (GOTY).
