The idea that Korean games lack creativity and merely imitate foreign games has been a long-standing stereotype in the Korean gaming industry. However, Hwang Jaeho, CEO of Mint Rocket and the Director of “Dave the Diver,” directly addressed this issue.
On April 15th, during the keynote speech delivered at Unite Seoul 2025 held at COEX in Seoul, Hwang stated, “The game we created, ‘Dave the Diver,’ is a product that directly counters this stereotype.” The statement showcased his pride in the game.
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Mint Rocket’s Hwang Jaeho
“Dave the Diver” is not just an indie game. It has gained recognition for its creative direction and has won several prestigious international game awards, including the BAFTA, Italy’s GamePro, and the UK’s PC Gamer. Influential media outlets have awarded it for its innovative gameplay. As Hwang shared, “It’s not only players who have enjoyed the game, as even those who haven’t played agree that ‘Dave the Diver’ is a creative game.”
Hwang explained that creativity is influenced by various factors such as “inspiration,” “circumstances,” and “talent.” He acknowledged that sudden “Eureka” moments of inspiration do occur, and that sometimes limited circumstances can actually spark creativity. However, as he emphasized, “These factors are mostly external conditions that cannot be controlled, and they are not the foundation for sustainable creativity.”
What he stressed the most was "repetition and improvement." Creativity doesn’t fall from the sky suddenly, but evolves through a continuous process of refining even the smallest ideas. He quoted Picasso, saying, “Creation begins with breaking something.” As he then explained, “Creation is a continuous process of trial and error and reassembly. This is the kind of creativity that anyone can continually achieve.”
Many attribute the success of “Dave the Diver” to NEXON’s support, but Hwang highlighted that this was not the case. The initial wishlist completion rate was only about 40%, much lower than in similar games, and the initial Twitter followers were only 281, with the early access announcement video achieving just 1,000 views.
However, Mint Rocket did not let these numbers sway their belief. They focused on refining the small details, testing, and iterating. They conducted both internal and external tests, making numerous improvements even before early access, and continued to apply their responses to feedback quickly after the release. As a result, they achieved an anomalous more users 2-3 weeks after the launch than right after it.
Creative ideas only have meaning when they are implemented. Hwang pointed out that, “To materialize ideas, repetitive work is necessary. If this repetition is too complicated or time-consuming, we will inevitably fall back into repeating old methods.” He added, “That’s why we chose Unity, as it offers both efficiency and flexibility.”
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“Dave the Diver” was initially planned to be released as a mobile game but shifted to PC and console platforms starting in 2020 after years of project delays. Hwang praised Unity for providing them with the freedom and speed they needed to experiment, which greatly enhanced the development process.
He specifically mentioned Unity’s Addressables feature and input system. The Addressables feature helped centralize resource management, ensuring development stability and efficiency, while the input system allowed for the easy integration of controls across different platforms. Recently, with Unity 6, the development convenience has significantly improved. As Hwang said, “There are many features that the developers seem to intuitively understand and this resolves their discomfort.”
Hwang also mentioned that Mint Rocket is currently preparing several unreleased projects, all of which are utilizing Unity. As he emphasized, “There is no tool more suitable for realizing and quickly refining new ideas than Unity.”
He concluded by stating, “I believe that more excellent and creative games that can succeed globally will emerge from Korea in the future. Since many of you probably share the same dream, I hope you will continue to follow journey of creation with Unity—by breaking, building, and breaking again.”
이유림 기자 press@gamevu.co.kr
