[The Chosun Daily] S. Korean game IPs get animated and illustrated 2024-09-03

South Korean game companies expand into animation and webtoons with popular IPs 

First-person shooter (FPS) game "CrossFire" animation/Smilegate

South Korean game companies are expanding their businesses by creating animations and webtoons based on their popular game characters and storylines. By leveraging well-established intellectual properties (IPs), these companies are opening up new revenue streams and promoting their games more effectively.

Smilegate, for example, recently announced plans to produce an animation based on its hit first-person shooter (FPS) game, “CrossFire.” This 15-minute short animation, set for release in December, will feature Tim Miller, known for directing “Deadpool” (2016) and “Terminator: Dark Fate” (2019), as its executive producer. “CrossFire,” launched in 2007, has a massive global presence, available in 80 countries and boasting around 1 billion cumulative users. Smilegate has been expanding the “CrossFire” IP into various media, including a drama series released in China in 2020 that has garnered over 2 billion views.

Nexon is also expanding its IP offerings. Last month, the company released a webtoon titled “Light of Arad: Forerunner” on Naver Webtoon, based on its popular game “Dungeon & Fighter.” This webtoon adapts a web novel released earlier this year. Additionally, game companies are developing new games based on existing IPs. For example, NCSoft recently launched a game called “Hoyeon,” which is derived from its 2012 game “Blade & Soul.”

This strategy of “IP reuse” aims to minimize the risk of commercial failure. Since these stories and characters are already proven successes, they carry less risk than creating entirely new content. Moreover, leveraging existing IPs serves as a promotional tool, keeping these games and their characters at the top of users’ minds. One industry insider said, “The goal is to demonstrate that the characters and stories from these games are still relevant and popular.”