Neptune, a subsidiary of Kakao Games, announced on the 20th that it has invested in three developers with IP (Intellectual Property) game production capabilities.
Three companies are targeted for investment, and with this investment, Neptune secured a 19% stake in Uniqon and Shiftric, and an 18% stake in Aulog.
Uniqon Co., Ltd. (CEO Jang Nuri) was founded in 2020 as a developer founded by three former web novelists. It has strengths in simulation games with a story. The current webtoon IP-based mobile simulation game ‘Corner Knitting Room with Cafe’ and ‘Help Me! ‘ is in service.
Corner Knitting Room also won the Google Play ‘Indie Game of the Year’ Excellence Award in 2021. It has also started developing new products with the goal of releasing it in the second half of next year. It is a webtoon-based running game of the same name, ‘Roland Roland’. Based on its IP-based game production capabilities, Unixon plans to spur the production of games that can grow into its own IP in the future.
Shiftrick Co., Ltd. (CEO Choi Kyung-yeon) was established in 2018, with an average of more than 11 years of experience in game development and business fields. He has experience in developing a PC-based sandbox roguelike genre and servicing it on the STEAM platform, and after signing a mobile game global rights contract for the popular character IP ‘Molang’ in May 2020, styling ‘Molangi’s Dream Wardrobe’ He is developing a game and a healing simulation game called ‘Molang World – Fantasy Adventure’.
‘Molang World – Fantasy Adventure’ was also selected as the final top 6 of the ‘2020 4th SBA Indie Game Fast Track’ selected by the Seoul Industry Promotion Agency and the Korea Mobile Game Association. Shiftrick plans to develop games of various genres through collaboration with various IPs as well as discovering its own IP in the future.
Ourlog (CEO Jeong In-young) is a developer who has raised awareness of the popular female-oriented game ‘Cultivation Boy’ series. Since its establishment in 2011, it has mainly developed female-oriented games and collectible games. The representative work ‘Cultivation Boy’ is a character collection game that has been in service for over 7 years.
Based on the popularity of IP, it has collaborated with various contents and released light novels, illustration books, and other goods of the same name. Currently, he is developing his next game called ‘Void Soul’ with the goal of releasing it within this year, and has plans to produce various female-oriented games in the future.
Neptune CEO Yoo Tae-woong said, “Neptune sees high potential for female-oriented games, and interest in developers with their own IP game development capabilities is high. All three development companies that invested in them all have great ability to produce game content targeting women and aspirations for IPization of games, and some have already started preparing their own IP games. “I decided to invest in it,” he said.
