SoftBank Ventures Asia is officially changing its company name to SBVA from beginning of February 1st after The Edgeof acquired the company from SoftBank Group Corp.(SBG) in June of last year. The new SBVA embraces the concept of technological singularities and the broader impacts of the virtues of
Following the largest fine ever imposed by the Fair Trade Commission due to a game item probability manipulation controversy, Nexon announced improvements just one week later.On Jan. 9, Nexon apologized for the recent controversy in a live broadcast starting at 6 p.m. and announced the suspension of
Nexon Korea, the operator of the online game MapleStory, is set to face a hefty fine of more than 10 billion won from the Korea Fair Trade Commission for selling game items with virtually zero chance of being won.The KFTC announced on Jan. 3 that it would impose a corrective order and a fine of 11.6
A public tender for a 4.7 trillion won stake in NXC, the holding company of Nexon, has ended empty-handed again.The second tender for 851,968 shares (29.3 percent stake) of NXC failed to find buyers, according to the Online Tender Offer System of Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) on Dec. 29
The number of venture companies with annual revenue exceeding 100 billion won (US$76.8 million) last year reached the record high of 869, the highest figure in history. The growth rate also set a new record, achieving an unprecedented 17.6 percent increase, or 130 companies, compared to the previous
The author is an analyst for NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com -- Ed.Earnings season for the sector is to begin on Aug 2 with Kakao Games. As earnings at Alphabet and Meta Platforms came in solid, Korean Internet companies are also expected to perform well. If the
“Sub-culture games” made by Korean game publishers are faring well in Asian markets. Subculture games are games that highlight Japanese anime-style girl characters and are targeted at specific groups of enthusiasts. Korean subculture games are gaining in popularity in China after Japan, so it remain
The Fair Trade Commission is reportedly conducting a survey on subcontract transactions targeting major game companies in Korea.According to the IT industry on June 28, the Fair Trade Commission recently started on-site investigations into major domestic game companies. In January, the Fair Trade Co
The author is an analyst for Shinhan Securities. He can be reached at sokang@shinhan.com -- Ed.Fears over possible reinstatement of China’s ban on Korean contentIn December 2022, Chinese regulators resumed granting license approvals for games developed by Korean companies, which was followed by addi
The labor union of Nexen Tire’s plant in the Czech Republic announced through a local social network on Jan. 25 that it would go on strike on Jan. 31.The labor union claimed that it had tried to narrow differences with the management over the past year with regard to a pay raise and other working co
The Korea Fair Trade Commission announced on Nov. 22 that Apple’s 30 percent app market fee has been applied on an end consumer price basis to South Korean app developers and on a supply value basis to foreign app developers.The difference is whether a 10 percent VAT is included in the calculation.
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. At G-Star 2022, we witnessed a clear increase in interest towards the console segment as well as market expansion for cross-play.Game market is changingWith the majority of Korean game companies
U.S. virtual asset exchange FTX is reportedly in talks to acquire Bithumb, the second-largest virtual asset exchange in Korea. Yet, sources informed in the matter say that the deal may be hampered by legal risks involving Lee Jung-hoon, the former chairman of Bithumb Holdings who is on trial for fra
The Korea Fair Trade Commission is looking into Nexon Korea regarding the suspicion of random item probability tampering on its games including MapleStory, Dungeon Fighter Online and Mabinogi.A random item is what a gamer purchases with his or her game money or the like. Its type and performance are
Shinhan Financial Group has temporarily suspended its review of investment in Korbit, one of the four largest virtual asset exchanges in Korea.The group halted its Korbit investment review in April. “It is true that we stopped the investment review,” a Shinhan Financial Group official said. “We can
NXC said on March 1 that director Kim Jung-ju died in late February in the United States at the age of 54. Kim was being treated for depression, and recently his condition had deteriorated.Kim entered the game business in 1996 by founding Nexon Corp., a game developer, with Song Jae-kyung (currently
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has invested 1 trillion won in Nexon. Recently, a series of big deals has taken place in the global game industry, including Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. PIF has been expanding its investment in game companies and has recognized Nexon’s
Foreign game companies are increasingly copying South Korean companies’ games and the South Korean government is doing nothing, according to those in the industry.At present, Krafton USA and Singapore-based Garena are in litigation over the former’s PUBG: Battlegrounds. Apple and Google are also inv
Nexon, one of South Korea's leading game publishers, will become the second-largest shareholder of Hollywood film production company AGBO, an independent film and television production company best known for its work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, most notably "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Av
NCSoft’s massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Lineage W has started to strengthen its position as a global intellectual property (IP).Lineage W is the latest installment of the Lineage series and was produced for the global market from its planning stage. It was launched in 12 cou