Transformative mobile game culture: A sociocultural analysis of Korean mobile gaming in the era of smartphones

This article analyzes how mobile gaming has taken shape within the context of Korea’s particular online gaming culture. It explores some of the sociocultural factors contributing to the growth of mobile gaming on smartphone platforms in Korea. It discusses how the emergence of smartphone usage has further shaped the development of Korea’s mobile games, compared with what one might find in other use cultures and national contexts. It explores the manner in which the transfer to, from, and between online gaming culture and mobile gaming culture is occurring in a specific subset of Korean youth in a highly networked, urban setting.