A list dominated by Asian tycoons … and Gabe Newell, founder of Valve.

Recently we learned that Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve Corporation, is one of the 100 richest personalities in the United States according to the Forbes list. https://ps4pro.eu/2017/10/20/gabe-newell-is-worth-quite-a-lot-of-money-just-how-much/  Does it mean he is also the richest in the video game industry? No, but he has increased many positions recently and has increased his wealth by 1.4 billion dollars, making him the third richest businessman in the sector.

Who are the first two? We did not stay there! We introduce you to the top 5 of the most wealthy persons of the gaming industry!

1. William Ding (China)

$ 16.6 billion. Position 74 on the Forbes list.

William Ding, Ding Lei in China, is the founder and CEO of NetEase, a firm that has been operating in China since 1997. The company would become famous and a multimillionaire in China thanks to its their search engine, but also amassed great fortune thanks to its Massive video games. His main successes are Fantasy Westward Journey, New Ghost, Tianxia 3 or the various revisions of some of his classics on current mobile phones, which have reported millions more to Ding Lei’s coffers. Today they are the distributors of World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and Minecraft in China.

2. Kwon Hyuk-Bin (South Korea)

$ 6.3 billion. Position 268 in the Forbes list.

Kwon Hyuk-Bin is head of Smilegate, the company founded in 2002 guilty of CrossFire, one of the most played first-person action video games in Asia. Remedy, creators of Alan Wake or Max Payne, will develop the CrossFire 2 campaign, a title that will also focus on competitive multiplayer. Of course, they have also focused on other genres and platforms, but CrossFire’s user base counts by the millions. Following the opening of an office in Berlin, the European expansion of its main work will take place over the coming months.

3. Gabe Newell (USA)

5.5 billion dollars. Position 326 in the Forbes list.

Gabe does not need presentation in the west. Valve’s father, one of the minds behind productions like Half-Life, the company behind Steam, the most important digital video game distributor. His fortune does not stop growing, and it is likely that the second position as the richest businessman in the industry will not hold out for too long. The seizing of the first – taking into account the power of NetEase in China – seems much more complicated.

4. Kim Jung-Ju (South Korea)

5 billion dollars. Ranked 383 in the Forbes list.

Despite its problems with justice, the fortunate (and fortuned) Jung-Ju remains unchanged thanks to the continued success of Nexon. Created in 1994, it is currently based in Tokyo, Japan, and is guilty of exploding hits like MapleStory or Combat Arms. They have also been responsible for bringing Western successes to the lucrative Korean lands, where they have not hesitated to take advantage of the brands to add new and valuable million dollars. Its next big success is Durango, that tries to revolutionize the MMORPG genre on mobiles.

5. Shi Yuzhu (China)

$ 3.4 billion. Position 645 in the Forbes list.

Shi Yuzhu is the boss of Giant Interactive Entertainment, a China MMO video game company that has taken advantage of its Zhengtu Online license since its foundation in 2005. The ZT family of games, launched on computers and mobile phones, peaked in the millions of users without major problems, which catapulted to the success Shi and his company.