Mobile games based on original webtoons are released on Google Play and Apple’s App Store, becoming a new profit center for webtoons and the gaming industry. (image: Naver Webtoon)
SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Webtoons are evolving as they expand their market reach mobile games and dramas.
Recently, mobile games and dramas using Naver Webtoon IP are gaining popularity.
Thanks to the popularity and recent trends, it is estimated that the size of South Korea’s webtoon market will surpass US$1 billion by 2020.
Mobile games based on original webtoons are released on Google Play and Apple’s App Store, becoming a new profit center for webtoons and the gaming industry.
MUSTGAMES Co., a game developer, has launched a new mobile puzzle game called “Gauss Electronics with Naver Webtoon” based on the popular Naver webtoon “Gauss Electronics” by Kwak Baek-soo on the Android market.
“Webtoons and games have been recognized to be in a competitive relationship as both industries share the same consumers,” a game industry source said.
The source added that “mobile games using original webtoons have gained popularity recently and are receiving attention as content that can absorb both current readers and game users.”
Other mobile games based on webtoons include “Noblesse with Naver Webtoon” and “Lucid Adventure: RPG with Naver Webtoon”.
Meanwhile, dramas based on webtoons are also becoming popular. A Naver webtoon named “Pegasus Market” was recently produced as a tvN drama. Two episodes have aired so far, and the show has so far been a hit.
The original work of the drama was a popular series by Kim Gyu-sam, who set a new record of 1.1 billion views at the time of the Naver webtoon series.
“The combination of comical acting with a fresh setting and solid acting skills in the original film caught the attention of both the original readers and viewers in just one episode,” said an official from Naver Webtoon.
Other popular shows include “Strangers from Hell,” the original Naver webtoon, and the Daum webtoon, “Itaewon Class,” which are set to air on JTBC.
D. M. Park (dmpark@koreabizwire.com)
