WEBTOON Entertainment Enters Gaming Acquisition Market with RI Games Holdings Deal

Global storytelling platform WEBTOON Entertainment is making a strategic investment to acquire up to 60 percent of RI Games Holdings. The parent company of Naver Webtoon signed the agreement with seller Redice Company on August 6, 2026, and announced the move alongside its second-quarter financial results. This transaction marks WEBTOON's first move to own game development studios that turn its webcomics into video games, rather than simply licensing them out to third parties.

The deal is structured to close in two separate tranches. The first closing involves 2,999 shares, representing about 20 percent of RI Games Holdings, for approximately 33.2 million dollars. The second closing covers the remaining 6,001 shares for approximately 66.5 million dollars, with that portion being conditional upon the commercial launch of the game Overgeared. Together, the two closings will bring WEBTOON to a 60 percent stake for a total of approximately 100 million dollars in cash. Additionally, the agreement includes a protective mechanism where WEBTOON can hand the second tranche back to the seller if the studio does not book specific revenue targets between the game launch and mid-2030.

RI Games Holdings was founded in 2022 by Kevin Tail Han, who also founded the South Korea-based webcomic studio Redice Studio, known for Solo Leveling and Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint. RI Games owns the game studios GrayGames and Offbeat. Its development team brings prior credits on notable mobile and PC titles such as MapleStory M, The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross, Lineage W, and Tower of God: New World. The current product lineup features three announced titles drawn from webcomics owned by WEBTOON: Overgeared, Doom Breaker, and Omniscient Reader. Every title is planned as part of a broader franchise that includes an accompanying anime adaptation.

Leading this lineup is an action MMORPG based on Overgeared. Developed by GrayGames and published by NEXON, it is scheduled for a global launch on personal computers and mobile devices later in the year, timed alongside the premiere of its anime adaptation in October 2026. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Junkoo Kim noted that the fund will help the company capture more value from global hits and secure strong intellectual property rights. Meanwhile, Tail Han stated that the studio aims to create immersive interactive experiences that bring fans together while extending the reach of each property.