Neptune Acquires Mobile Game Developer 'IK Games' to Strengthen Global Competitiveness

Game company Neptune announced on the 16th that it will acquire mobile game developer EK Games.

Founded in 2014, EK Games has developed and is servicing over 10 mobile games including "F-Class Hero Raising," which recorded 1 million downloads, as well as "Lord of Dungeon," "Gumiho Raising," and "Eloy: Defense War." As of 2023, EK Games recorded approximately 13.8 billion KRW in revenue and 3.5 billion KRW in operating profit, with about 70% of total revenue generated overseas.

Neptune, having secured 50.1% of EK Games' shares, has strengthened the global competitiveness of game development studios focused on overseas market expansion, such as Triple A of Goyang Snack Bar and Play Hard of Ururu Mercenary Corps. Currently, Goyang Snack Bar and Ururu Mercenary Corps have recorded cumulative downloads of 25 million and 6 million respectively in the global market, with overseas revenue proportions approaching 70-80%.

With this acquisition, Neptune now owns seven internal development studios and subsidiaries, including N.Fly, the developer of Infinite Staircase, which have successful track records, and plans to expand to more than 10 through additional investments and acquisitions.

Furthermore, Neptune plans to create synergies between EK Games and its internal platform business. By collaborating with Remake for performance marketing and AdX for ad monetization, Neptune aims to link user acquisition and revenue models for mobile games, thereby not only increasing additional revenue but also establishing an environment where EK Games can focus solely on game development and service.

Neptune CEO Kang Yul-bin said, "EK Games will play an important role in Neptune’s game development business unit, sharing four successful experiences achieved over nine years while further enhancing Neptune’s development capabilities. Moving forward, we will strive to increase corporate value by strengthening Neptune’s own ecosystem through investments and acquisitions of excellent developers and synergies with internal platform business areas."

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