National Gugak Center, National Theater of Korea deepen collaboration with gaming industry

A scene from the main music video for Land of Morning Light: Seoul released by Pearl Abyss, in collaboration with the National Gugak Center and the Korea Heritage Service (Pearl Abyss, National Gugak Center and Korea Heritage Service)
A scene from the main music video for Land of Morning Light: Seoul released by Pearl Abyss, in collaboration with the National Gugak Center and the Korea Heritage Service (Pearl Abyss, National Gugak Center and Korea Heritage Service)

Pearl Abyss, the video game developer known for its sandbox-style fantasy MMORPG Black Desert, received the commendation from the Culture Ministry on Dec. 27 during its year-end ceremony.

Why? It was because of "gugak," or the traditional Korean music. The award was presented at the National Gugak Center in Seoul.

Pearl Abyss launched Land of Morning Light: Seoul, an expansion for Black Desert, on Sept. 12 in several overseas markets including North America, Europe, Japan, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

In collaboration with the National Gugak Center and the Korea Heritage Service, the company unveiled the main theme music video for the expansion, titled "Painting Joseon," to introduce gugak-inspired original scores to a wider audience.

The combination of gugak and video games might seem unfamiliar. But gugak has been featured in game music before. In 2001, the horror game White Day incorporated one of the foremost gayageum players Hwang Byung-ki's "Labyrinth." More recently, NCSoft’s Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons expansion in 2022 and Pearl Abyss's Land of Morning Light expansion in 2023 both incorporated gugak into their soundtracks.

The National Theater of Korea holds a concert in collaboration with the mobile game
The National Theater of Korea holds a concert in collaboration with the mobile game "Cookie Run: Kingdom." (National Orchestra of Korea)

How gugak and gaming industry are coming together

While the collaboration between video games and gugak isn’t entirely new, last year saw the National Gugak Center and the National Theater of Korea venturing into the gaming industry.

Their decision to perform game music aimed to break the stereotype held by younger generations that gugak is difficult or inaccessible. By using game music as a bridge, they demonstrated the potential to connect with audiences in a more approachable way.

Last November, the National Orchestra of Korea, dedicated to contemporary interpretations of traditional Korean music, partnered with South Korean game developer AK Interactive for "Music Odyssey: The Great Merchant." The concert reimagined music from the game The Great Merchant, a massively multiplayer role-playing game that explores the cultural landscapes of Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan and India.

This was the third gaming collaboration after two previous collaborations with game developers in the “Soso Music Concert” series, aimed at children and young people, featuring mobile games such as "Cookie Run: Kingdom" in 2021 and 2022, and "Crazyracing Kartrider" in 2024.

(Clockwise from left) Album covers for National Gugak Center's Game Sound Series of
(Clockwise from left) Album covers for National Gugak Center's Game Sound Series of "League of Legends," "Night Crows" and "PUBG: Battlegrounds" (National Gugak Center)

Meanwhile, the National Gugak Center released a series of soundtracks in May and December as part of its Game Sound Series, featuring traditional gugak arrangements of popular game music.

Among the tracks released in May are theme songs and background music from Lies of P, Skul, Sanabi, MapleStory, TalesWeaver, Epic Seven, Lost Ark, Guardian Tales, Blade & Soul, Lineage, Aion and Black Desert.

The second batch released in December are from Night Crows, PUBG: Battlegrounds and League of Legends.

Notably, these games boast impressive peak concurrent user numbers. Night Crows reached 400,000 globally (April 2024), PUBG: Battlegrounds hit 800,000 (September 2024) and the League of Legends Champions Korea finals saw nearly 4.1 million simultaneous viewers (April 2024). These figures explain why the gugak community has shown such keen interest in these collaborations.

The soundtracks are available on the National Gugak Center's website and major music streaming platforms.