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NCSoft’s Pangyo R&D Center. (Photo = Yonhap News Agency) |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] South Korean game developer NCSoft has agreed to acquire a German mobile casual gaming company in a deal worth approximately KRW 301.6 billion ($230 million).
NCSoft said on March 10 that it will acquire 17,696 shares of JustPlay GmbH, a Berlin-based developer of mobile casual games and reward apps, according to a regulatory filing. The transaction will give NCSoft a 70% ownership stake in the company, with the acquisition scheduled to close on April 30.
The company said the acquisition aims to secure a key platform within the global mobile casual gaming ecosystem and accelerate the expansion of its casual gaming business.
JustPlay operates a mobile rewards platform that offers its own casual games while providing users with tangible incentives for gameplay. Through the JustPlay app, users can earn points by playing mobile casual games and periodically exchange them for cash rewards, gift cards, or charitable donations.
Mobile analytics platform AppBrain estimates that “JustPlay: Earn Money or Donate” has accumulated approximately 30 million downloads worldwide.
The acquisition reflects NCSoft’s broader effort to diversify its revenue structure beyond its legacy intellectual property (IP), including blockbuster franchises such as Lineage.
The company has been accelerating its push into casual gaming since establishing a dedicated mobile casual business division in August last year. It has also recruited global executives, including Anel Ceman, to lead the initiative while expanding through mergers and acquisitions.
In December last year, NCSoft invested KRW 153.4 billion to acquire a 67% stake in Vietnamese mobile casual game developer Lihuhu. It also acquired Springcomes, a domestic Korean mobile casual game studio.
NCSoft aims to achieve economies of scale in the mobile casual gaming sector and expand globally. The company has set a target for casual games to account for one-third of its total revenue by 2027.
Leveraging its strengths in data analytics and artificial intelligence, NCSoft plans to build a platform-based business model that integrates advertising, user acquisition, and monetization within the mobile gaming ecosystem.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
