Line to open ‘Line Games’ in Korea…Competition with Kakaotalk to be fierce
Jin Hyun Jin | 2jinhj@ | 2017-07-11 09:28:36
Naver`s Japanese subsidiary, `Line`, is expected to establish `Line Games` in Korea and jump into the game distribution business. It is anticipated that the game will be confronted with the Kakao, which is playing the game business through KakaoTalk.
According to industry sources on July 10, Line will establish Line Games, a subsidiary dedicated to overseas game distribution, and secured a 51% stake in game development company Next Floor.
Next Floor is a game that successfully developed mobile games `Dragon Flight` and successfully provided games such as Destiny Child and Crystal Hearts. Kim Min-kyu, CEO of Next Floor, will headline Line Games with Next Floor. Currently, the two companies are negotiating on the composition of the line games as a result of the movement of personnel.
LINE has been focusing on the game business since it concluded an overseas distribution contract for the "Moonlight Engraver" at the end of last year. Casual games which utilize line character intellectual property rights (IP) as a result of this investment are dedicated to distribution lines such as MMORPG genre and next-floor development small line games. The company stated that it did not release all of its games on its line, but decided to take over the game because it needed to develop its game for distribution.
As a result, Line has also faced a confrontation in the game business with the mobile messenger competitor, Kakao. Kakao has been developing platform competitiveness based on launching a number of mobile games through KakaoTalk or providing its own distribution services. Casual game ‘Anipang’ (developer Sunday toys), social network game (SNG) `i love coffee` (developer party game) are representative. Next Floor`s `Dragon Flight` and `Destiny Child` were also released on the Kakao platform and became very popular.
Kakao is nurturing the game business through recruiting Nam Kung-hoon, the CEO of Kakao Games last year. Last month, Kakao said it invested a total of KRW 70 billion in 22 domestic game companies in a year. Launching its own distribution brand `Kakao Game S`, it launches` Yin Yang Company `for kakao` and `Blade 2 for Kakao` which are evaluated as a mobile masterpiece in the second half of this year. KakaoTalk is also launching a multi-faceted assault on its game channel `Game Stars` in order to create synergy with KakaoTalk.
An industry expert explained, "KakaoTalk will be in Korea, and competition for services that are likely to be successful will become intense as the Line runs into the game business."
By Jin Hyun Jin 2jinhj@
[ copyright ⓒ The Digitaltimes ]
According to industry sources on July 10, Line will establish Line Games, a subsidiary dedicated to overseas game distribution, and secured a 51% stake in game development company Next Floor.
Next Floor is a game that successfully developed mobile games `Dragon Flight` and successfully provided games such as Destiny Child and Crystal Hearts. Kim Min-kyu, CEO of Next Floor, will headline Line Games with Next Floor. Currently, the two companies are negotiating on the composition of the line games as a result of the movement of personnel.
LINE has been focusing on the game business since it concluded an overseas distribution contract for the "Moonlight Engraver" at the end of last year. Casual games which utilize line character intellectual property rights (IP) as a result of this investment are dedicated to distribution lines such as MMORPG genre and next-floor development small line games. The company stated that it did not release all of its games on its line, but decided to take over the game because it needed to develop its game for distribution.
As a result, Line has also faced a confrontation in the game business with the mobile messenger competitor, Kakao. Kakao has been developing platform competitiveness based on launching a number of mobile games through KakaoTalk or providing its own distribution services. Casual game ‘Anipang’ (developer Sunday toys), social network game (SNG) `i love coffee` (developer party game) are representative. Next Floor`s `Dragon Flight` and `Destiny Child` were also released on the Kakao platform and became very popular.
Kakao is nurturing the game business through recruiting Nam Kung-hoon, the CEO of Kakao Games last year. Last month, Kakao said it invested a total of KRW 70 billion in 22 domestic game companies in a year. Launching its own distribution brand `Kakao Game S`, it launches` Yin Yang Company `for kakao` and `Blade 2 for Kakao` which are evaluated as a mobile masterpiece in the second half of this year. KakaoTalk is also launching a multi-faceted assault on its game channel `Game Stars` in order to create synergy with KakaoTalk.
An industry expert explained, "KakaoTalk will be in Korea, and competition for services that are likely to be successful will become intense as the Line runs into the game business."
By Jin Hyun Jin 2jinhj@