[Click eStock] "KakaoGames, Expected External Growth with Various New Releases"

Korea Investment & Securities Report

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Korea Investment & Securities forecasted on the 23rd that Kakao Games' various new release momentum and proactive response to new trends will have a positive impact on the company.

Odin, released by Kakao Games in June, immediately took the top spot, surpassing NCSoft's Lineage series, causing a major shift in the domestic mobile game market. In the third quarter, Odin's daily average revenue exceeded 3 billion KRW, and although its revenue ranking dropped to second place due to the release of Lineage W, it is still maintaining a large scale of success.

Recently, Kakao Games decided to acquire an additional 30.37% stake in Lionheart, the developer of Odin, and combined with its existing 21.58% stake, plans to secure a total of 51.95% ownership, incorporating it as a consolidated subsidiary.

Kakao Games is preparing a new lineup of releases to follow Odin. This year, it plans to launch Cygames' Uma Musume, which recorded tremendous success in Japan, in the domestic market, and other anticipated new titles such as Gasdior and Eversoul are also scheduled for release next year. Researcher Ho-yoon Jung of Korea Investment & Securities explained, “Odin, the biggest domestic hit, is scheduled to be released in Taiwan in the first half of next year, followed by sequential releases in other global regions. With various new releases, Kakao Games is expected to continue stable external growth next year.”

The company is also actively responding to new trends including NFTs. In May, Kakao Games merged its subsidiary Friends Games with WayToBit, the developer of the cryptocurrency Boracoin. Based on this, Kakao Games is developing an NFT marketplace specialized in sports, games, and the metaverse, and in the long term, it is expected to release games incorporating new business models such as NFT and P2E (Play 2 Earn).

In July, the leisure sports equipment specialist acquired Germany's Sena Technology and plans to create a differentiated business model by combining sports and games, unlike existing game companies. Researcher Jung said, “Recently, the expansion of business models incorporating blockchain in the game sector has led to valuation growth, so it is necessary to pay attention to Kakao Games' moves related to new businesses next year.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.