Netmarble

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Netmarble Corporation
Native name
넷마블게임즈 주식회사
TypePublic
KRX: 251270
IndustryMobile game, Web game
FoundedMarch 1, 2000; 21 years ago (2000-03-01)
FounderBang Joon-hyuk
HeadquartersGuro District, Seoul
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Park Sean (CEO)[1]
ProductsOnline games
Increase KRW 294 billion (2016)[2]
Increase KRW 209 billion (2016)[3]
Total assetsIncrease KRW 1,957 billion (2016)[4]
Total equityIncrease KRW 1,310 billion (2016)[5]
Owner
  • Bang Jun Hyuk (24.12%)
  • CJ E&M(21.78%)
  • Han River Investment subsidiary of Tencent (17.52%)
  • NCSoft (6.8%)
  • Others (29.78%)[6]
Number of employees
3,000 non-consolidated in Korea (2016)[7]
SubsidiariesHybe Corporation (19.90%)
Kabam
Kung Fu Factory
Jam City, Inc.
(minority stake)
Website

Netmarble Corp. (Korean: 넷마블컴퍼니) 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 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.[8]

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 E&M Corporation.[9]

Since 2015, the company has licensed Disney-owned properties to produce games such as Marvel: Future Fight (2015),[10] Disney Magical Dice (2016),[11] and Star Wars: Force Arena (2017).[12][13][14][15]

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.[16]

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.[17] As of 2021, Netmarble owns 19.31% of the Big Hit Entertainment after it changed its name to HYBE Corporation[18]

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,[citation needed] leaving Future Fight as the only Disney-based game it supports.

In February 2021, the company acquired Los Angeles based developer Kung Fu Factory.

As of 2021, Netmarble shareholders consisted of Bang Joon-hyuk (24.12%), CJ E&M Corp. (21.78%), Tencent (Han River Investment Pte. Ltd.) (17.52%), NCsoft Corp. (6.8%) and Others (29.78%).[19]

Notable games[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Netmarble names Park Sean as new CEO". Yonhap News. February 26, 2018.
  2. ^ "넷마블게임즈 주식회사 감사보고서" (in Korean). Dart. March 17, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  3. ^ "넷마블게임즈 주식회사 감사보고서" (in Korean). Dart. March 17, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  4. ^ "넷마블게임즈 주식회사 감사보고서" (in Korean). Dart. March 17, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  5. ^ "넷마블게임즈 주식회사 감사보고서" (in Korean). Dart. March 17, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  6. ^ "Netmarbel Corporate Governance". Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  7. ^ "넷마블게임즈 주식회사 감사보고서" (in Korean). Dart. March 17, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  8. ^ "Profile: Bang Jun-hyuk". Forbes. February 28, 2019.
  9. ^ "넷마블 분기보고서" (in Korean). Dart. September 30, 2018.
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ Jones, Elton (April 28, 2016). "Disney Magical Dice: Top 10 Tips & Cheats You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  12. ^ Minotti, Mike (November 17, 2016). "Star Wars: Force Arena for mobile sure looks like a MOBA". VentureBeat. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ Shaul, Brandy (January 12, 2017). "Netmarble Launches Star Wars: Force Arena on iOS, Android". AdWeek. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  15. ^ "Star Wars: Force Arena". Netmarble Game. Retrieved July 26, 2017 – via StarWarsForceArena.com.
  16. ^ "Netmarble names Park Sean as new CEO". Yonhap News. February 26, 2018.
  17. ^ Herman, Tamar. "Netmarble Games Becomes Second-Largest Shareholder Of BTS's Label, BigHit Entertainment". Forbes.
  18. ^ "HYBE Corporate Governance". hybecorp.com. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  19. ^ "Netmarble Corporate Governance". Netmarble. August 13, 2021.
  20. ^ "2 Worlds: Cross Worlds Official Site". 2worlds.netmarble.com (in Korean). Retrieved June 11, 2021.
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