Naver Webtoon's parent company, Webtoon Entertainment, announced on the 10th (local time) that it has signed a final contract for a strategic investment in Rising Games Holdings.
Through this investment, Webtoon Entertainment will establish a business foundation to develop popular webtoons with global fandoms into games. At the time of contract closure, Webtoon Entertainment will secure 60% of the shares in Rising Games Holdings.
Webtoon Entertainment plans to develop and release multiple new games based on verified IPs with global fandoms over the next four years in collaboration with Rising Games Holdings. Rising Games Holdings has two game development studios under its umbrella: GrayGames and Offbit.
The lineup includes games based on popular titles such as 'Solo Leveling' (1.3 billion global views), 'Tower of God' (590 million global views), and Naver Webtoon's mega-hit 'Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint' (3.05 billion global views). This is part of a franchise strategy to expand webtoons into animation and games, alongside scheduled anime adaptations.
The first title in the lineup is a new action MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) based on the globally popular webtoon 'Solo Leveling'. The game will be developed by GrayGames and published by Nexon, with a global release planned for this year. With the 'Solo Leveling' anime scheduled to air in October and the game set to launch within the year, the franchise will expand further globally while offering fans a new experience to enjoy the original work.
Rising Games Holdings was founded in 2022 by Han Tae-il, founder of Red Ice Studio. The company is developing games targeting the global market with top-tier development teams that produced hit titles such as 'MapleStory M', 'Tower of God: New World', 'Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross', 'Lineage W', and 'Aion 1'.
Kim Jun-gu, founder and CEO of Naver Webtoon and Webtoon Entertainment, stated, "Webtoons are the space where global fandoms begin, and this investment will play a leading role in growing excellent stories into global franchises." He added, "Games are one way to provide fans with powerful immersion. Turning stories that fans already love into games is a powerful method to reach new users worldwide. This will further solidify Webtoon's achievements in creating successful global franchises that extend from the original work through animation, TV, film, and publishing all the way to games."
in TECH
