 | |
| Native name | 넷마블 주식회사 |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| Traded as | KRX: 251270 |
| Industry | Video game |
| Founded | March 1, 2000; 24 years ago (2000-03-01) |
| Founder | Bang Jun-hyuk |
| Headquarters | Guro District, Seoul, South Korea |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Park Sean (CEO) |
| Products | Video games |
| Operating income |  KRW 294 billion (2016) |
| Net income | KRW 209 billion (2016) |
| Total assets | KRW 1,957 billion (2016) |
| Total equity | KRW 1,310 billion (2016) |
| Owner | |
| Number of employees | 3,000 non-consolidated in Korea (2016) |
| Subsidiaries | Kabam Kung Fu Factory Jam City, Inc. (minority stake) |
| Website | |
Netmarble Corp. (Korean: 넷마블 주식회사) is a South Korean game developer and publisher, 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.
Since 2015, the company has licensed Disney-owned properties to produce games such as Marvel: Future Fight (2015), Disney Magical Dice (2016), and Star Wars: Force Arena (2017).
In 2017, Netmarble acquired North American interactive entertainment company Kabam.
In 2018, Netmarble named Park Sean as its new CEO. Park, the former chief strategy officer of the operator of KakaoTalk, co-headed Netmarble with incumbent chief Kwon Young-sik.
In April 2018, Netmarble acquired 25.71% in Big Hit Entertainment, the agency of Korean boy group BTS and TXT, becoming its second largest shareholder. As of 2021, Netmarble owns 19.31% of the Big Hit Entertainment after it changed its name to HYBE 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 supported.
In February 2021, the company acquired Los Angeles based developer Kung Fu Factory.
On August 20, 2021, the company established a subsidiary label known as Metaverse Entertainment which partnered up with Kakao Entertainment to manage musical artists. Five days later, Kabam released a sequel to Future Fight, titled Marvel Future Revolution, which was an ambitious online open-world superhero action RPG that ran on Unreal Engine 4, employed several notable voice actors and offered a more cinematic presentation. On January 25, 2023, the label debuted a virtual girl-group known as Mave:.
As of 2021, Netmarble shareholders consisted of Bang Jun-hyuk (24.12%), CJ ENM (21.78%), Tencent (Han River Investment Pte. Ltd.) (17.52%), NCsoft Corp. (6.8%) and Others (29.78%).
Following the poor performance of Marvel Future Revolution, Netmarble announced in June 2023 that the game would shut down on August 25, 2023. On January 19, 2024, Netmarble shut down its metaverse subsidiary, laying off 70 employees.
Games
| Year | Title | Developer | Publisher | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | GunZ: The Duel | MAIET Entertainment | Netmarble | Publisher in Korea only |
| Grand Chase | KOG Studios | Netmarble | One of many publishers | |
| 2007 | SD Gundam Capsule Fighter Online | Softmax | Netmarble | |
| 2008 | Uncharted Waters Online | Koei Tecmo | Netmarble | Publisher in North America and Europe only |
| Prius Online | CJI | Netmarble | ||
| 2012 | Scarlet Blade | Liveplex | Netmarble | |
| District 187: Sin Streets | Netmarble | Netmarble | ||
| 2014 | Seven Knights | Netmarble Nexus | Netmarble | |
| 2015 | Marvel Future Fight | Netmarble Monster | Netmarble | |
| 2016 | Lineage 2: Revolution | Netmarble Neo | Netmarble | |
| Knights Chronicle | Netmarble | Netmarble | Initially Japan only; released globally in June 2018; shut down on July 4, 2023 | |
| 2017 | Star Wars: Force Arena | Netmarble Monster | Netmarble | Shut down on January 12, 2019 |
| Arena of Valor | TiMi Studio Group | Netmarble | Publisher only in Korea | |
| 2018 | The King of Fighters All Star | Netmarble Neo | Netmarble | |
| BTS World | Takeone Company Corp | Netmarble | ||
| 2020 | Seven Knights 2 | Netmarble Nexus | Netmarble | |
| Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross | Netmarble F&C | Netmarble | ||
| 2021 | Marvel Future Revolution | Netmarble Monster | Netmarble | Shut down on August, 25th 2023. |
| 2022 | Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds | Netmarble Neo | Netmarble | |
| 2023 | Paragon: The Overprime | Netmarble F&C | Netmarble | |
| Game of Thrones | Netmarble Neo | Netmarble | ||
| Tower of God: New World | Netmarble | Netmarble | In all countries on July 27, 2023 | |
| 2024 | Solo Leveling: Arise | Netmarble | Netmarble | |
| TBA | RF Project | Netmarble | Netmarble | |
| Shangri-La Frontier | Netmarble Nexus | Netmarble |
References
- ^ "Netmarble names Park Sean as new CEO". Yonhap News. February 26, 2018.
- ^ "넷마블게임즈 주식회사 감사보고서" (in Korean). Dart. March 17, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- "Netmarbel Corporate Governance". Retrieved August 13, 2021.
- ^ "Profile: Bang Jun-hyuk". Forbes. February 28, 2019.
- "넷마블 분기보고서" (in Korean). Dart. September 30, 2018.
- "Marvel: Future Fight launches from Netmarble". Marvel Entertainment. April 30, 2015. Archived from the original on December 26, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017 – via Marvel.com.
- Jones, Elton (April 28, 2016). "Disney Magical Dice: Top 10 Tips & Cheats You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
- Minotti, Mike (November 17, 2016). "Star Wars: Force Arena for mobile sure looks like a MOBA". VentureBeat. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
- Brooks, Dan (January 12, 2017). "Dream Teams: How Star Wars: Force Arena Puts You in Control of the Galaxy's Greatest". StarWars.com. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
- Shaul, Brandy (January 12, 2017). "Netmarble Launches Star Wars: Force Arena on iOS, Android". AdWeek. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
- "Star Wars: Force Arena". Netmarble Game. Retrieved July 26, 2017 – via StarWarsForceArena.com.
- "Netmarble buys Kabam's Vancouver studio". gamesindustry.biz. December 20, 2016.
- Herman, Tamar. "Netmarble Games Becomes Second-Largest Shareholder Of BTS's Label, BigHit Entertainment". Forbes.
- "HYBE Corporate Governance". hybecorp.com. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
- Sinclair, Brendan (February 19, 2021). "Netmarble acquires Kung Fu Factory". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
- "메타버스엔터테인먼트, 공식 회사 홈페이지 오픈" [Metaverse Entertainment opens its official company website]. Ch netmarble. November 8, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
- Jang, Woo-young (January 11, 2023). "메이브, 4인조 완전체 비주얼 첫 공개…러블리→힙 '4色 매력'" [Mave, 4-member complete visual first released...Lovely→Hip 'Charm of 4 Colours']. OSEN [ko] (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
- "Netmarble Corporate Governance". Netmarble. August 13, 2021.
- Derrick, Connor (June 5, 2023). "Marvel Future Revolution announces it will end service and leave storefronts in the coming months". www.pocketgamer.com. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- 김, 주환 (January 19, 2024). "기세 꺾인 메타버스…넷마블F&C, 메타버스월드 전원 권고사직". Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- 기자, 이복현. "넷마블, 사전등록 130만 돌파한 나이츠크로니클 출시". NSP통신 (in Korean). Retrieved December 21, 2024.
- "경영 효율화 ·신작 줄대기...넷마블, 연간 흑자전환 총력전". 디지털투데이 (DigitalToday) (in Korean). February 27, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
- "Netmarble: A New Game of Thrones Mobile MMORPG". BlueStacks. February 2, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
External links
- Official website
- Business data for Netmarble:
| Largest conglomerates in South Korea | |
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| Business Groups with a total asset exceeding 0.5% of the nominal GDP for 2024, as designated by KFTC | |
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