NCSOFT (NC) announced on the 11th that it has made additional investments targeting domestic and international game companies to secure new growth engines and expand its global pipeline. In the gaming industry, a pipeline refers to the simultaneous development of multiple game projects.
The investment targets are ▲ domestic game developer ‘MISTIL GAMES’ ▲ game developer ‘Virtual Alchemy’ based in Poland in Eastern Europe. NC will expand its game portfolio and strengthen its global publishing capabilities through the publishing rights of new intellectual property (IP) being developed by each game company.
MISTIL GAMES is a domestic game development studio established in 2022, led by co-CEOs Seo Yong-soo and Jo Yong-min. The studio is developing a third-person time survival shooting game ‘TIME TAKERS’ and an online action-adventure game ‘GRAY’.
NC secured equity and the global publishing rights (excluding China) for ‘TIME TAKERS’ through its investment in MISTIL GAMES. ‘TIME TAKERS’ first unveiled its teaser video at the 2023 G-Star G-CON. It is currently under development with a target release in 2025.
Virtual Alchemy is a game development company established in 2022 in Poland. Based on expertise and creativity in the RPG (role-playing game) genre, it is pioneering a new genre by combining strengths across various genres such as roguelike, RTS (real-time strategy), and dark fantasy. The company is currently developing a strategic RPG titled ‘Band of Crusaders’ set in a medieval European background.
NC secures global rights for Band of Crusaders and establishes a foothold in Eastern Europe, an emerging region in the gaming industry.
Park Byeong-moo, co-CEO of NC, said, “NC is actively continuing investments both domestically and internationally, considering expansions in regions, genres, and platforms to secure new growth engines. We will expand our global pipeline through the newly acquired IPs and present high-quality games to global users.”