NCSOFT said on the 22nd it will push ahead in earnest with global mobile casual business as a new growth engine.
NCSOFT has been strategically preparing its mobile casual business since the second half of 2024, aiming to diversify its globally focused portfolio and strengthen AI and data-driven competitiveness. To that end, it built a business structure that integrates development, publishing, data, and technology capabilities and created a dedicated organization.
The mobile casual business centers on building an ecosystem that bundles development, publishing, data, and technology capabilities into one. NCSOFT secured a perpetual license to the codebase software of a Europe-based corporations specializing in game data analytics and live operations platforms, laying the foundation for a technology platform needed to grow mobile casual through UA, live ops, and creative optimization. The platform is designed for immediate use by its affiliated developers, supporting stable, data-driven operations.
NCSOFT acquired a Slovenia-based mobile casual studio and verified its technology and marketability, confirming the feasibility of the mobile casual business.
Building on early results, it is also pursuing acquisitions of global specialist developers. NCSOFT disclosed the acquisition of the global casual developer "Lihuhu" and will become the largest shareholder by securing 67% equity in Lihuhu's parent, Indigo Group. The investment amounts to $103.85 million (153.4 billion won).
Lihuhu, a Vietnam-based developer founded in 2017, has released more than 100 games across genres such as Match-3D, Number, and Hole. Its 2025 revenue is expected to be about 120 billion won, with operating profit of about 30 billion won, and more than 80% of sales are generated in North America and Europe.
It will also proceed with the acquisition of the domestic mobile casual studio "Springcomes." Specializing in merge games, Springcomes releases four to five new titles each year. Its 2025 revenue is expected to be about 28 billion won, more than double from the previous year, and it has four games with more than 30 million cumulative downloads.
NCSOFT is currently discussing additional acquisitions of domestic and overseas mobile casual studios and publishing deals and plans to announce a comprehensive business roadmap in early 2026.