[Click eStock] "DNC Media, Expected Expansion of Released Works and IP Utilization Business"

Hana Financial Investment Report

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Hana Financial Investment stated on the 28th that they expect an expansion in released works and business growth utilizing IP for D&C Media.

D&C Media is a major domestic webtoon CP company that, based on its long experience in web novels, selects high-quality IPs to release high-quality novel comics. The company's representative works include "The Emperor's Only Daughter," the origin of novel comics, and "Solo Leveling," a phenomenal hit on Kakao Webtoon. In addition, the company is currently serializing 30 works on Kakao Page. Among these 30 works, as of March 25, 9 have over 1 million subscribers, and "The Emperor's Only Daughter," currently in its 6th season, has more than 4 million subscribers.

Yoon Yeji, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, said, "Among the 12 new works released last year and this year, only one work, 'I Will Become the Head of the Family This Life,' has surpassed 1 million subscribers, and 9 works have exceeded 500,000 subscribers. Although the number of productions is not large, they are chosen by readers for their proven quality."

With the acquisition of Ant Studio in August last year and the planned establishment of a webtoon studio this year, the company's annual number of new works is expected to grow from about 10 in 2023 to more than 20. Last year, the company acquired Ant Studio, a webtoon studio specializing in novel comics, to expand its high-quality webtoon production workforce. Ant Studio, similar to the company, specializes in fantasy novel comics and is currently serializing 10 works. Researcher Yoon analyzed, "The in-house webtoon studio under D&C Webtoon Biz that is currently being organized will be able to start serializing new works in earnest from the fourth quarter."

The game business utilizing webtoon IP is also promising. The RPG game being developed by Netmarble Neo using the "Solo Leveling" IP is scheduled for release next summer. Over the past few years, the company has continuously attempted IP expansion through ventures such as the Vietnam platform business and game publishing business, and after trial and error, it decided to develop games in collaboration with developers who have development capabilities. Researcher Yoon said, "Not only games but also animation production and character business are being prepared, so there are multiple momentum points this year and next year to gauge the expansion potential of webtoon IP beyond video content."

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