Forbes US: "Earning 10 Billion Annually... Naver Webtoon Helping Creators Generate Revenue"

American economic magazine Forbes analyzed the secret behind Naver Webtoon captivating creators.

On the 4th, Forbes published an article titled "How WEBTOON Is Empowering Creators To Tell Original Stories Online."

According to Forbes, the U.S. comic industry is worth $2.1 billion (approximately 2.7 trillion KRW). Since launching its service in Korea in 2004, Naver Webtoon has achieved global growth, securing 85.6 million monthly active users. Creators who upload their works gain opportunities to build large fanbases and increase exposure.

Amateur creators can also generate income. As part of a revenue-sharing program, they serialize their works and share advertising revenue. For example, 'Junpureu,' a creator discovered through Naver Webtoon's global amateur creator platform 'Canvas,' earned about $1,000 per month from the early stages of serialization.

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Forbes particularly noted that in 2021, the highest-earning creator on Naver Webtoon made over 10 billion KRW annually, and many creators earned more than 100 million KRW per year.

The outlet analyzed that the creator-friendly ecosystem and intellectual property (IP) business help these creators generate revenue. Generally, publishers pay creators advances and royalties, but often creators cannot earn additional income from secondary businesses based on the IP. In contrast, on Naver Webtoon, creators retain copyright ownership, and contracts and revenue-sharing models are all designed to be creator-friendly. It is explained that efforts are made to enable creators to generate income through various business models such as online serialization, publishing, video adaptation, and gaming.

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