BTS Agency HYBE Partners with Flint to Officially Enter the Gaming Business

Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of HYBE, is speaking at a press conference held on the 19th at BEXCO in Haeundae-gu, Busan, during the 'G-STAR 2022' event. / Photo by HYBE

[Asia Economy Reporter Noh Kyung-jo] HYBE, the agency of BTS, is intensifying its game business.

On the 19th, at the 'G-STAR 2022' event held in Busan, HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk held a joint press conference and announced that HYBE's game subsidiary HYBE IM will service Flint's mobile game 'Become a Star 2: Knights of Veda'.

Chairman Bang said, "Games are attractive content that encapsulate all elements of entertainment," and added, "I believe HYBE can provide customers with newer, more enjoyable, and diverse experiences through the game business."

He expects HYBE's game business to fuse and evolve with other businesses and enhance the value of the entertainment business. He emphasized, "We will achieve the innovative results we have made in the music business in the game business as well."

On the same day, HYBE signed an investment agreement with the domestic mid-sized game company Flint and acquired shares in Flint.

HYBE CEO Park Ji-won explained, "After successfully servicing self-developed titles and entering the publishing business, it means HYBE has officially launched its game business as a comprehensive entertainment company."

Future game release plans were also revealed. HYBE IM CEO Jung Woo-yong said, "While artists' intellectual property (IP) is a valuable asset to HYBE, we will also strive to release games that do not utilize it," adding, "We are preparing a new game project based on artists and music, and two new games from Makobil are targeted for release next year."

HYBE IM, established in March this year, has released casual games 'Rhythm HYBE' and 'In the SEOM with BTS'. 'In the SEOM', in which BTS members directly participated in the production process, has surpassed 6.8 million cumulative global subscribers. It was also selected as the Excellent Game of the Month for the second half of 2022 by the Korea Creative Content Agency.

Flint was established in 2013 and released the mobile game 'Become a Star!' the following year. This year, after eight years, it unveiled the sequel 'Become a Star 2'.

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