Netmarble Corp. (
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
: 넷마블 주식회사) is a South Korean mobile game developer. It is
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
's largest mobile-gaming company which was founded in 2000 by Bang Jun-hyuk.
Overview
Netmarble developed ''Lineage 2 Revolution'' in 2015 and released to the public that same year. As of 2019 L2R became one of the highest-grossing mobiles in the market; exceeding 924 million dollars in 11 months since its release. Currently, Netmarble continues to update and bring new content to L2R''.''
Netmarble produces role-playing mobile games. As of 2015, it had more than 3,000 employees and served over 120 countries worldwide. In May 2017, Bang took the company public, raising $2.4 billion.
Netmarble has developed mobile games including ''Seven Knights'', ''Raven'' (''Evilbane'' in the U.S.) and ''Everybody's Marble''. It also claims a large shareholder stake in
SGN, a casual game developer, and has a strategic partnership with
CJ ENM
CJ ENM (, CJ Entertainment aNd Merchandising) is a South Korean entertainment and retail company founded in 2018.
CJ ENM was established as a result of the merger of two CJ Group subsidiaries, CJ E&M and CJ O Shopping respectively, in July 201 ...
.
Since 2015, the company has licensed
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
-owned properties to produce games such as ''
Marvel: Future Fight'' (2015), ''Disney Magical Dice'' (2016), and ''
Star Wars: Force Arena'' (2017).
In 2018, Netmarble named Park Sean as its new
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
. Park, the former chief strategy officer of the operator of
KakaoTalk
KakaoTalk (Hangul: 카카오톡), commonly referred to as KaTalk (Hangul: 카톡) in South Korea, is a mobile messaging app for smartphones operated by Kakao Corporation. It was launched on March 18, 2010, and it is available on mobile and deskto ...
, co-headed Netmarble with incumbent chief Kwon Young-sik.
In April 2018, Netmarble acquired 25.71% in
Big Hit Entertainment
Big Hit Music (; formerly Big Hit Entertainment) is a South Korean music label established in 2005 by Bang Si-hyuk. It was re-branded and re-structured into an independent label under Hybe Corporation (formerly Big Hit Entertainment Co., Ltd.) ...
, the agency of Korean boy group
BTS
BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produ ...
and
TXT, becoming its second largest shareholder. As of 2021, Netmarble owns 19.31% of the
Big Hit Entertainment
Big Hit Music (; formerly Big Hit Entertainment) is a South Korean music label established in 2005 by Bang Si-hyuk. It was re-branded and re-structured into an independent label under Hybe Corporation (formerly Big Hit Entertainment Co., Ltd.) ...
after it changed its name to
HYBE
Hybe ( Hungarian: ''Hibbe'') is a village and municipality in the Liptovský Mikuláš District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia.
Names and etymology
The name is of Slavic ( Slovak) origin with uncertain etymology. Possibly, it derive ...
Corporation
Netmarble and Disney's partnership significantly deteriorated near the end of 2018 when the former announced that it can no longer support ''Disney Magical Dice'' and ''Star Wars: Force Arena'', and eventually shut down both games, leaving ''Future Fight'' as the only Disney-based game it supports.
In February 2021, the company acquired Los Angeles based developer
Kung Fu Factory
Kung Fu Factory is an American video game developer located in Los Angeles, California in the United States. The company was formerly known as Just Games Interactive, which developed '' Mortal Kombat: Unchained'' and '' Mortal Kombat: Armageddon ...
.
As of 2021, Netmarble shareholders consisted of Bang Jun-hyuk (24.12%),
CJ ENM
CJ ENM (, CJ Entertainment aNd Merchandising) is a South Korean entertainment and retail company founded in 2018.
CJ ENM was established as a result of the merger of two CJ Group subsidiaries, CJ E&M and CJ O Shopping respectively, in July 201 ...
(21.78%),
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
(Han River Investment Pte. Ltd.) (17.52%),
NCsoft Corp. (6.8%) and Others (29.78%).
Games
References
{{Authority control
South Korean companies established in 2000
Netmarble
Netmarble Corp. (Hangul, Korean: 넷마블 주식회사) is a South Korean mobile game developer. It is South Korea's largest mobile-gaming company which was founded in 2000 by Bang Jun-hyuk.
Overview
Netmarble developed ''Lineage 2 Revolution ...
NCSoft
Tencent
Mobile game companies
Video game companies established in 2000
Video game companies of South Korea
Video game development companies
Video game publishers
Companies based in Seoul